Chronicles of the Fallen: Layers
by Brenli
Summary: 7 years after the events of 'Improper Guardian,' Heaven finds itself threatened with another violent rebellion... involving a deadly masked woman who has plans for something more devastating than even the Dragonmaster of Gehenna could predict.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: 'Angel Sanctuary' is created and owned by Kaori Yuki. 'Chronicles of the Fallen' and all of its installments are created and owned by Brenli, with 'Layers' being owned by Jael in collaboration. 'Layers' is the second installment in the 'Chronicles of the Fallen' series. Please read the first installment, 'Improper Guardian,' to avoid any confusion in regards to the characters and events to occur in 'Layers.' This is a work of fiction_. _Any similarities to persons or events, living or dead, is entirely coincidental._

**Layers**

_Prologue_

By: Brenli and Jael

They could hear the muted sounds of others, many others milling about, deep in the underground levels of this abandoned, graffiti-covered building. How many years had it been since any of them so much as thought of passing by this place...?

Once upon a time, hiding under all this red brick and multi-colored spray paint, these had been the secret headquarters for the leader of Rabbit Revolution... the infamous Rabbit Queen. Now it served as a safe haven for... a different kind of would-be leader.

One of the group of three Rabbit men unfolded a crumpled, dirty sheet of lime green paper, scanning over the words printed on it:

'Do you still hurt, starve, mourn? What can you do to live better? Will the Queen help you? AZRAEL HAS THE ANSWERS.'

"What do you want?"

The group of men jumped, looking down at the hole near the bottom of the building. Another milky-pale face looked up at them, stubble lining his jaw. "... We're here to listen to Azrael."

The stubbly man gave them a once-over with skeptical eyes, but waved them in, walking away before all three of them had slipped down into the dark hallway.

"... Could use some sprucing up."

"Hey, you shut up!" The stubbly man glared at them from further down the hall. "You want this place to look pretty? Call up the Queen and ask her to take care of it! Preferably with her own spoiled hands!"

As the stubbly man grumbled and continued trudging down the hall, the group of men swallowed the lumps in their throats. The shortest one nudged the one with the paper and whispered, "You sure about this...?"

"... He's worth listening to, isn't he?" To be honest, he wasn't sure. He reached out to gently pull the torn edges of a large poster back together... Rabbit Revolution propaganda. A picture of Nemaelle, the Rabbit Queen... marked up in red and black spray paint, a line right across her little, snowy-pale neck, crosses over her eyes.

"_Hey!_"

The three men jumped again.

The stubbly man had pulled aside a curtain and was motioning for them to enter the soap box room with a jerk of his head. "He'll be out on the soapbox, soon; get in here."

They slipped in silently and soon melted into the large crowd of fellow Rabbits, many equally nervous... some of them silent and waiting patiently at the edge of the stage, staring expectantly at the soapbox set in the middle. A small but potent reminder of life pre-Revolution... when the soapbox room wasn't an auditorium, but a empty room with a single soapbox set in the middle. A sign of hard times... murderous times, and it set everyone on edge.

The stubbly man disappeared behind a set of double doors, the murmurs in the crowd grew comfortably loud, but scared. Someone on the other side of the large room, a woman, fearfully quaked, "Have you read the Sunday paper? The government says Azrael sent them another threat..."

Someone replied, "No way; won't believe that till it's on TV..."

"You have a TV? You're a lucky, rich bitch!"

A ripple of cynical, but uneasy laughs traveled through the crowd, echoing off the walls of the soapbox room until the double doors were suddenly thrown open with a loudness that made the whole crowd gasp and fall into silence. There he was... Azrael, the Rabbit whose name and face had begun to appear more and more often in the media. The would-be terrorist who sent Heaven's government threat after threat... and asked for the ears of all his Rabbit brethren during the evenings, just like tonight.

One man whispered to the one beside him, remarking on just how plain he looked. How he was so infamous, and yet he appeared before them in nothing but a loose and tattered grey sweater, black pants with a hole in the knee. Dirty and scuffed boots... He mentioned to his friend that Nemaelle had looked nothing like that when she first appeared before them... From the moment she had appeared in Heaven she had looked so different than the rest of them, with colorful clothing made of unripped fabric. Yet Azrael...

He looked just as frayed and worn as they did.

Azrael strode up to the soapbox with his back straight, his stride sure and steady. He planted one booted foot on the soapbox and began to speak to the crowd, who had begun to quietly murmur, again. "First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming. That took courage… because I know what they're saying about me." He spoke to them with a firm, confident voice, free of any stutter or hesitation.

"The media is calling me a tyrant. A terrorist… But am I really? How can they call me that, when all I am doing is trying to take what is rightfully ours? You are all here, because like me, you're sick of the hand you've been dealt. Tired of being treated as a lower-class citizen, simply because our parents are angels. Tired of being treated like this because of something that is, and has always been, out of your control.

"Several years ago, I, like you, had faith that things were going to turn around. When I heard rumors of a warrior 'Queen' who could kill a man by looking at him. A 'Queen' who was going to change everything for us. But tell me, brothers, did she change anything?"

The crowd murmured and several shook their heads.

"No," Azrael agreed. "No, she didn't. She _married_ a White Wing. She married _Michael._"

The crowd murmured again, many shouted angrily.

"How could she?"

"He _killed_ my _brother!_"

"I feel the same way you do, brothers. Nemaelle is a traitor to the cause… Our savior became Michael's whore. Michael was _directly_ responsible for the Battle at the Fields… And how many did we lose? And she ran off with him that same day…! And need we forget how Michael went on a killing spree, leaving _hundreds_ of us dead in his wake…? And she ran off with him.

"But I am telling you now, brothers, that I will never abandon you as she did. Join with me, and together we can give the White Wings a war that they will _never _forget.´

"How do we know that we can believe that?" One man piped up. "I remember when Nema first started all this… she made so many promises, too. And nothing has changed…!"

"I'll tell you right now why I am different, brothers." Azrael's lips formed a soft, careful frown. He had never really wanted to share what he was about to tell them. And yet… "Nemaelle was born on Assiah. Where she lived a comfortable life. She never knew what it was like to be cold and hungry. She was never touched by tragedy. She never experienced loss at the hands of a White Wing. I will tell you now that I lost my twin sons and their mother during the Hunting.

"I was forced to watch as they shot my sons, and raped their mother right in front of me. And let me tell you, my friends… that's not something anybody can forget. That's not something anybody can _forgive_. Nema may be willing to try and coexist peacefully with White Wings, but how can we? After what they did to us? What they've _always _done to us?

"No… They deserve nothing less than the same genocide they gave us. And I will not know a restful night's sleep until every White Wing has paid for the sins of their brethren. "

His words struck the hearts of all those Rabbit men and women, still tired and worn down despite all that their Queen had promised to do for them. Those words sank through their skin and nestled in their hearts like little barbs, stirring up their pain and pulling a great, angry cry from their pale lips. Several men held their fists in the air as they cheered for Azrael's cause, women applauded and cried out for him to come to their aid, to do what Nema had failed to do. Even a young mother hoisted a her child onto her shoulders, a little boy with snowy fists held high as he proclaimed that Nemaelle was dumb, that Azrael would be the best there ever was. A great laughter flooded the soapbox room, cheerful in an aggressive but powerful way as Azrael's name became a cry that everyone chanted.

Azrael turned his back to the crowd he had stirred into uproarious applause. He did not utter a word to a single soul as he made his way back to his room. His face only a solemn frown.

He brushed the white hair out of his red eyes and stepped into his room, sealing himself into darkness and much-needed silence.

"I'm surprised you told them about your family," a voice in the dark said. "I didn't think you'd ever share that with anybody."

Azrael felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle, and his heart raced in a moment of temporary panic. "It needed to be done," he said. "Perhaps now, they can learn to trust me." He turned to face the woman in his room. She leaned against his window, arms crossed. Her upper body hidden by shadows.

"You've always had a knack for stirring up a mob. It makes you a valuable asset, Azrael."

"I'm glad you think so, Celestiel-sama," Azrael said, bowing his head slightly. He swallowed the sudden dryness in his throat, wishing he could have kept his silver tongue in the presence of this terrifying woman. "I don't mean to be rude, but... why are you here? Shouldn't you be-"

"I came to see how things were going. Apparently, they are going well."

Azrael's lips formed a thoughtful frown, and he nodded. "Yes... They are. Everything's going according to plan."

Celestiel chuckled. "_Viva la revolucion._"

xXxXxXx

_Authoress' Note: Happy birthday to you...! Happy birthday to YOU...! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR HALOOOO...! Happy birthday to you! (And many morrrrre...!) We realize that April Fool's Day is not actually your birthday, but... close enough, especially because we're EARLY! XD E'vrybody, go search up HaloRecoil here on FF. Net. Because she is awesome, her birthday is coming up VERY soon, and her story 'The Coming of the Seraph' is most enjoyable, thus far...! YES, YOU HAVE JUST BEEN GIVEN A PROMO, HALO. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AGAIN! XD_


	2. Chapter 1

**Layers**

_Chapter One_

By: Brenli and Jael

Dust. So much dust...

Doll was no longer a maid, and yet the dust that clung to her finger still made her cringe.

After she and Katou had moved out of Hades, she knew that Uriel's mansion would suffer this kind of neglect. Uriel himself had never been much of a housekeeper, so layers of dust on flat surfaces was only the inevitable result of her leaving.

She still hated it, though.

"Uriel-sama?" Her voice echoed louder than the clacking of her stilettos.

"_I'm in the den._"

So much time had passed since she had left Hades, hearing his voice inside her mind made her jump. And the first thing she noticed when she entered the den was the faint, biting smell of whiskey. She frowned... she had a feeling she would stumble upon him like this.

The Uriel she had once known had tragically died long ago... an inevitable result of having his heart broken one too many times. She had hoped, with all her soul, that he would have snapped out of it. That he would have found somebody to ease the sting of his loneliness... but her prayers had fallen on deaf ears.

And the pain... the pain had changed him.

She noticed him sitting in a dingy brown leather armchair, his black shirt wrinkled and the top few buttons undone. Doll's lips pinched together to hide another unhappy frown. The Uriel she remembered would never have looked so sloppy. The old Uriel wore only pressed shirts and high collared jackets...

There was a distinct pinkness to his bleary eyes, and he swirled a glass of amber liquid in one hand, his other hand resting on the knee of his loose grey pants.

"Uriel-sama, are you drunk?"

"_No. But I'm working on it._"Uriel's unmoving lips formed a dry and subtle smirk as he raised the glass to his lips. He smirked as a way to hide the strange stab of pain in his chest...

Doll was one of the only people in the world that Uriel truly cared about. He always HAD cared for her, and he missed her terribly. It hurt him to see her doing so well without him. To see her standing in front of him wearing a simple and beautiful strapless dress, her hair pinned up and her bangs expertly trimmed. She had always had such a glow about her since she had gotten together with Katou. The glow she had was what had wounded Uriel deeply every single day... and became the reason why they had left Hades.

It hurt him because he wished he could have stood before her as a clean and polished man. But how could he?

No. He was tainted. Dirty... He didn't even deserve to be in her presence.

Doll heaved a dramatic sigh, feeling anger bubble inside of her. She marched over to him and took the drink from his hand. "You haven't been answering your phone."

"_I check my messages._"

"And you don't return them."

"_I assumed that if it was important, somebody would come._"

"Well, here I am." Doll spun on her stiletto heel and dumped the amber colored whiskey into the soil of a nearby house plant. "I'm hoping I can convince you to leave Hades for a while."

Uriel rolled his eyes and chewed the inside of his cheek. "_Why would I want to leave Hades? I like it here._"

"Because you're ALONE." Doll sighed and gave Uriel a piteous look, her eyes pleading. "Look, Uriel-sama... I talk to the others. I know what you did after Nema's wedding..."

A muscle ticked in Uriel's jaw and he looked away, mouth pressed in a thin line. "_I don't want to talk about it, anymore._"No, he certainly did not. He didn't even want to THINK about it.

"I know." Doll replied gently. "But it isn't healthy to keep yourself locked up down here, like this. We all make mistakes and... fortunately, we live in a time where... _those _kind of mistakes are forgivable now, Uriel-sama!"

Uriel suddenly rose to his feet, tension binding in his shoulders and face. Doll didn't flinch. She didn't need to. She knew that he would never, ever hurt her. Despite his temper... "_Why are you really here, Doll?_" He couldn't look at her.

"Because I need you to go to Assiah. Well.. the other Elementals need you to go there."

"_Ah. So that's what Nema's seven messages have been about..._"

Doll nodded once. "They couldn't really give me details, but... I know it's important. They need you."

Uriel's frown deepened.

"... Hopefully it won't take long?" Doll gave him a small little smile. "With everything going on up in Heaven right now, they could use your help. Because you know about the Uprising... don't you?"

How could he not know? He still picked up a newspaper, once in a while. The rebel Azrael seemed to have been giving everyone up in Heaven problems. Especially Nema. "_I'm not sure what I can do to help_."

"You're still the Angel of Judgement. She could use someone like you on her side."

"_I don't choose sides, anymore._"

"Maybe that's your problem." Doll mumbled.

Uriel gave her a dark look.

"I'm not asking you to join her TEAM or anything, Uriel-sama. But you should at least see them. See what they want. Then you can crawl back into your cave and forget all of us ever even existed, until you just rot away."

The bitterness and pain in Doll's voice made him frown and feel a stab of unwelcome guilt. "_Doll._"

"Whatever. Do you what you want." Doll set a slip of paper down on the surface of his dusty desk. "But if you actually decide to do the right thing, here's Lilith's phone number. The Dragonmaster. She's the one who needs to talk to you."

Uriel felt the words to stop her burn in his mind, but he stayed silent. He watched as she turned and left, leaving just as soon as she had come.

He swept a hand through his messy hair, sweeping it back out of his face. He reached out to grab his canter of whiskey and filled another crystal glass. He took a single sip and slowly paced his study, letting Doll's words seep into his heart and sear into his mind.

How long had it been since he had left Hades? How long had it been since he had seen Nema or the others? He knew Nema had two children, now... he still haven't even seen the second one. A daughter, wasn't it...?

He pinched the bridge of his nose, set his glass down... and picked up the slip of paper Doll had left behind.

A strange feeling of foreboding pounded in the back of his mind as he picked up his phone and dialed Lilith's number. Somehow, he just knew... that this wasn't going to be as simple as seeing the others. It never was...

xXxXxXx

"God, it's killing me that I won't get to meet little Lilliel, yet, Nyssa!"

"Well, if your hubby hadn't been so insistent on dragging you down to the UK for some crap prophecy...!"

"Hey, hey..." Nema spoke into her white cell phone, brushing a few strands of snowy hair over her equally snowy shoulder. "You don't know if it's a 'crap prophecy', Nyssa."

"It's a crap prophecy if it involves everyone meeting up in Assiah, when nearly of you except that little Dragonmaster _reside_ in Heaven."

Nema winced, though Nyssa couldn't see her actions. "Okay, I guess I won't be letting you talk to Michael about any of this. You'll both eat up my battery ranting about this 'crap prophecy.'"

"Aw, come on."

"Be reasonable, Nyssa. She's a little Evil girl and she's..."

"A bitch?"

"... Or just obviously selfish, anyway. I just don't see a girl like Lilith coming all the way up to Heaven, considering Gehenna's shaky relations with us, for something that isn't big in some way."

"I just figure you have enough to worry about already. I mean... they tore down your monument, Nema."

"It's just a statue."

"It wasn't _just_ a statue. It's a statement. And if Azrael and his stupid Uprising find out that you're not even _in_ Heaven, anymore..."

Nema sighed, bright red eyes rolling. "They're not going to find out. Michael and I packed up the kids and left in the early morning - Oh my God." Nema stood on her knee-high boots, high heels clacking against the pavement. "Nathan...! _Nathaniel!_"

"What did the boy do, this time?" Nyssa laughed through the phone, expecting to be ignored.

"Yeah, Ma?" A five-year-old Rabbit boy looked over his shoulder, his grin as bright as his red eyes.

"Get that knife out of that tree!" Nema cried, her own set of red eyes wide as she saw all the little gouges her son had pierced into the bark with only a simple steak knife. "Where did you even get this?"

"... From the kitchen?"

"What did I say, Nathan? No knives on this trip!"

A wide frown, so much like his fiery father's, curled on his snowy lips. "I know, I know... Sorry." He pulled the knife out of the trunk of the abused tree with a small grunt and held it out for his mother to take.

The Rabbit Queen took the knife with and a shake of her head and a smile. She ruffled his soft, white hair and nodded over to her mother, Jibril, who bounced a two-year-old Rabbit girl in her lap and gave her little Eskimo kisses on her button nose. "Go to your sister. We'll see about working out target practice for you later, okay?"

The idea was enough to put an equally wide smile back on the boy's face, and he saluted his own mother before hurrying off to his Grandmother, who still looked every bit as young as any Angel did.

Nema laughed into the phone, "I gave birth to a ninja, obviously."

Nyssa only grinned. "I don't know why that's shocking, to you. Look at who you married."

"Yeah, yeah." Nema blew raspberry into the phone. "I should let you go. Looks like Raphael just got in. Glad the delivery went well! Now _rest._ Why are you even the one calling me to tell me the news? That should be Rujiel's job!"

"Ruji's got all his military buddies patting him on the back; he can't call _anyone._" Nyssa's laugh melted into a yawn. "I'll call you later...?"

"Get some rest; you need it...! _Then_ you can call me. Later, Nyssa...!" Nema slid her white cell phone shut and moved over to the Wind Angel, who was in the middle of talking with her Fiery Angel.

"... It's _shit_, Raphael. This whole thing is _shit!_"

"Then why are you here, Michael?" Raphael countered, hands in his pockets as he nodded to Nema. "Nema, nice knife."

"Ha ha." She pointed at Michael with the blade and asked him, "Did you know our son packed this up?"

His bright blue-green eyes had slipped into blue upon Nema's arrival, glancing down at the gleaming blade of the steak knife and back up at her. "This is why I'm getting him actual throwing knives." He grabbed her knife-holding hand by her pale wrist and pulled her closer, their lips meeting for one, two, three kisses.

"You didn't answer my question..." Nema murmured to Michael's mouth.

"Did he hurt anything?" Michael deflected with another kiss, ignoring the cough that left Raphael's throat.

"Just a tree..."

"Fuck the tree. It's a tree."

"You knew about the knife." Nema tapped his face with the handle. "This better be the only one..."

Michael merely deflected with a barrage of kisses, in some strange, unspoken, Michael-like way, also serving as a confession.

Raphael coughed loudly, and the Rabbit Queen laughed as she peeled herself away from her husband. "Oh, Raphy, are you sick?" She teased with a grin.

"Sick of you two, yes." He teased back, allowing Nema to prod his chest with the handle of the steak knife in her hand. "Is everyone here?" His ice blue eyes scanned the area, and he waved to Jibril as she smiled at him and handed Nema's daughter off to Setsuna. Nathan waved back and yelled out, asking about Raphael's own son. "Sorry, Nathan! Abel's back home!"

"_Dammit!_"

Nema had to scold him all over again. "Language!"

"Sorry, Ma...!"

"Setsuna's here, too..." Raphael mused, nodding to the Angel he spoke of.

"He insisted on staying with Mom." Nema replied, watching a subtle frown curl his handsome features.

"It's just one big fat Bullshit Prophecy party, Raphael...!" Michael snorted in annoyance, even as he cracked jokes.

Raphael didn't find that funny in the slightest... When the tiny little Evil had shown up in his office, he'd known immediately that something must have been wrong... horribly wrong. Lilith spoke to him of the Apocalypse... a concept everyone in Heaven was inherently familiar with. A concept that left Heaven safe... this, though. This strange threat that Lilith had grumbled about while leaning back in a chair and planting her sneakers on his desk... nothing was safe. Everything would be wiped clean... outright deleted from existence.

Lilith had claimed to need the Elemental Angels and some aid from... of all people, Judas. King Judas, of the Assiahbound Revenants... So seemingly random that it was no wonder Michael kept writing this off as some big farce...

But even so. Lilith didn't need Setsuna, or Nema, and especially not Nema's children...

"Wow. Somebody didn't find that funny." Nema arched her snowy brows up at the Wind Angel.

"Feh! He thinks this whole prophecy is a real deal. Worse than even you, Nema." Michael grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look, if... If Setsuna wants to be in on this, that's his choice. But Nema, you have way too much to take care of without this prophecy... And you brought your _children?_"

Nema nodded at Michael. "He won't get involved unless we're here."

Raphael turned incredulous eyes at the Fire Angel, and Michael's blue eyes momentarily became angry and green. "What the fuck are you lookin' at me like that, for?"

"Some things don't change..."

"What the fuck does that even _mean?_"

"Raphael, don't worry about it." Nema stepped in between the Fire Angel and the Wind Angel. "I have a feeling this might have something to do with the Uprising..."

"The Uprising isn't going to change anything going on here in Assiah or down in Hell." Raphael countered.

"There are factions in Hell that support the Uprising. As for Assiah? This poor place is always getting caught in middle of things, because it _is in the middle_." Nema hadn't realized the tenseness in her pale shoulders until Michael wrapped his arms around her. "It's not the greatest theory ever, I know... but it's the only one I have, and I think it makes sense. And if I'm right... then not only should I be a part of this, but I know Nathan and Isobelle will be fine. They've been well-protected, so far..."

Raphael let Nema's theory settle in his brain like a heavy, unwelcome blanket. "... You think factions in Hell might get involved in the Uprising."

Nema shrugged helplessly, Michael trying to kiss away a small frown curving her mouth. "Stranger things have happened..."

"You think the Uprising could become another... Holy War." Oh God... as if Heaven was in any shape for a Holy War? Seven years had passed since Nema's restoration from a ghoul to her healthy, Rabbit self, since she'd begun collaborating with Prime Minister Raziel on amendments in the law... Long enough for her to marry Michael and bring two healthy children into the world, but... not nearly enough time for Heaven to get its bearings after all the repercussions of the Revolution and all the reformation going on this very moment...

"I'm trying to do everything I can to compromise with the Uprising, but there's only so much I can do at a time, legally...! And Azrael's even been talking about making you pay, all of you who are Pure, and -"

"Nema, I know. It's okay." Raphael shushed her, a tiny bit of guilt wedging itself inside his worried heart. He knew full well that Nema had enough on her plate... potential Holy War aside. "I'm not pinning any of this on you, it's just..." He sighed, running a hand through his golden locks. "Feels like it's just one impending war after another, doesn't it...?"

"Feh..." Michael buried a moody scowl against his wife's snowy little neck, pressing kisses there to calm her before grumbling, "War never ends. It just gets quiet for a little while." His arms dropped away from Nema's shoulders, briefly slipping down her arms before resting on his slim, adolescent-looking hips. "It makes sense that the Uprising started up. Whatever. Impatient Rabbits are pissed. But this prophecy bullshit? No. I don't care that she's the Dragonmaster and she came all the way from fucking Gehenna. I don't fucking care! All she is, is some little kid who hit her little pipe too fucking hard, and then came all the way up to my house and called my wife and my kids _slaves!_ And I'm supposed to go along with her pipe dream? Fucking stupid..."

Raphael blinked. "Lilith called you a slave, Nema?"

She shrugged, her head shaking helplessly. "I guess over the years some Rabbits made it into Gehenna and became slaves in order to get a roof over their heads... So she just kind of... made an assumption."

"Jesus..." He ran his hand down his face. As much as he'd rather go along with the prophecy to be safe, he had to wonder about the young girl who had gathered all of them together... It figured that Michael was pissed.

The War Angel sneered and continued, "The only reason I'm here is 'cause I could use the vacation. Because I can guarantee you, that's all this is gonna amount to. A vacation in fucking London."

"What about Jibril and Setsuna?" Raphael asked, motioning at them with a jerk of his head.

Nema's lips pursed together in an unsure face. "Mom's sort of in the same boat as me, I guess... she figures that it's better to give Lilith the benefit of the doubt. But Dad-"

"It's garbage." Setsuna said simply, bouncing little Isobelle in his arms as he approached them. "If this were a serious prophecy given to her by the Shinryu, you'd think she wouldn't be insulting the very people she needs for help."

"_Exactly_ what I'm fucking saying, shit-" Michael's mouth was silenced by Nema's pale little fingertip, and he looked at her pouting face with questioning blue eyes.

"You've already got Nathan running around cussing his head off. Can we please make Isobelle the baby that _doesn't_ swear? Please?" Nema begged him.

She smiled when Michael rolled his eyes and kissed her fingertip, and then promptly reached out to take Isobelle from her Grandfather. "Bell Bell...!" He couldn't help but greet her like a fatherly fool... but he likely would have set anyone on fire if they dared to mock him.

"Papa...!" Isobelle echoed back in the same singsong tone, a flurry of giggles following as she snuggled against his chest, slightly warmer than everyone else, but all the more comforting, because of it.

Setsuna couldn't help but smile at Michael. Try as he might, he was never, ever going to get used to Michael having these small, fatherly moments... but to be fair, Katou had often said the same of Setsuna himself, when Nema was but a baby. "I feel like this would go a lot smoother if it were Kurai doing this, and not her daughter..."

Nema gave her father a small frown. "She passed on, Dad."

"I know..."

An uneasy silence filtered through the group. Raphael and Michael had spent very little time with the current Dragonmaster's mother, and Nema herself could only recall birthday cards and jewelry from the woman who, back then, had been referred to as a distant Aunt... but Setsuna remembered her well. All her noble deeds and her not-so-noble ones... but Kurai had always, _always_ had a good heart. He was sad when she died... childbirth, he'd been told. She'd died giving birth to her only child... a daughter. Lilith...

Nema cleared her throat and clapped her pale hands together, hoping to bring up everyone's mood. "I got a call from Nyssa today..."

That put the smile back on Setsuna's face. "Did she deliver?"

"It's a girl...! They've named her Lilliel."

"After Rujiel's sister." Michael said with a nod, bouncing Isobelle in his arms, seeing Nema nod back with a smile.

"He's here...!" The group suddenly heard Jibril call out, waving them over. Nathan pointed off down the street, toward the tall figure that practically seemed to loom over the much shorter girl stomping ahead of him. "Uriel's here...!"

A collective frown traveled through the group as they looked at the Earth Angel. It wasn't often that any of them saw him... living in Hades didn't help with that fact, but neither did his interest in drinking alone and his lack of interest in being with people. Why were they... disappointed? Perhaps it was the tired rings around his eyes, the fact that he had traded in his regal suits for blue jeans, of all things. Blue jeans and a wrinkled shirt that he didn't even care to button up enough to hide the scars on his throat. They couldn't have expected much better than his tall, brooding self.

And the girl, Lilith...? Her stomping and her scowl said everything. This wasn't going to be fun, was it...? "Okay, let's go." Nema forced herself to smile, tapping the handle of the steak knife against Michael's shoulder... trying not to feel like she was walking into the lion's den.


	3. Chapter 2

_Authoress Notes: Language lesson - Oppa: A Korean term of familiarity used by a younger female toward an older male she is on good, friendly terms with. Literally meaning 'older brother.'_

**Layers**

_Chapter Two_

By: Brenli and Jael

"Uri...! Long time, no see." Nema greeted him warmly, her smile small, but pleasant on her pale face.

Uriel could only weakly mirror the small smile. "Very true..." His green eyes looked beyond her pale shoulder to see the War Angel wearing a strange half-frown... the bundle of white skin and hair held in his arms, staring up at him with the widest pair of bright red orbs. The last time he'd seen a face like that, it had belonged to their son, who was now old enough to stand beside his father and wear his own strange half-frown.

But he deserved those half-frowns and Nema's weak, though pleasant, greeting. What could he expect after the years he spent locking himself away... and knowing he would have locked himself away for several more, if he could?

Nema looked over her shoulder to see what the Earth Angel was staring at, and suddenly laughed. "Oh, Uri, this is Iso-"

"He can meet the baby later; right now we got work to do!"

The Rabbit Queen wore a moody pout as she brought her attention to the little girl standing just in front of Uriel, her tan arms crossed over her flat chest, thick, champagne blonde bangs falling heavily over her face. Nema couldn't help herself. "Oh, yes, Master Lilith."

The cat-eye pupils in Lilith's maroon eyes narrowed into thin slits as the angry Evil snapped, "You can lay off the fucking slave jokes, thanks! I'm serious, we got shit to figure out!"

"Isn't that why you dragged all our asses here to begin with, _Princess?_" Michael took the half-step needed to be beside his pale wife, his eyes bright green, his frown deepening into an outright scowl.

Lilith opened her mouth to snarl back, but Uriel spoke for her, his voice heavy and even as it came from the strange collar that enabled him to speak. Years of development had changed the once bulky, clunky metal ring into little more than a pendant resting at the base of his throat, secured by a simple chain. Everyone had almost forgotten he even needed that collar-turned-necklace... "What she means to say is that there needs to be a new plan."

"Already?" Several voices echoed, but Michael added with a scoff, "She failed already? Not surprising. May as well go back home."

"Fuck you, all right?" Lilith whined angrily. "Not my fucking fault that mighty King Judas has some stupid issues with non-Assiah types!" The little Evil wasn't expecting the strange moment of silence that followed, especially not from the Fire Angel, himself. The very moment she first met him, their conversation had become little more than a damn screaming match. She _expected_ him to snap back. She _prepared_ herself for it, but even he didn't make so much as a peep, choosing to try and burn her alive with his angry green eyes, alone. "... What?"

Raphael tried hard to keep his expression even, cool and icy. "... Wow."

Lilith glared at him. "What?"

Jibril only shared a troubled, exasperated look with her husband, their daughter crossing her arms over her pale chest.

Uriel looked down at the pale blonde crown of Lilith's head. "I told you this news wouldn't play out, well."

"Shut the fuck up, Earth Boy!" Lilith nearly roared at him.

"Game over. Did I fucking call it or what?" Michael rolled his eyes, shook his head, turned on his heel. "Come on, Nathan. We're gonna find a shooting range."

"No! No, no, _no!_" Lilith's ratty, faded canvas sneakers scraped against the ground as she shoved past Nema and cut Michael off. "You can't just fucking _waltz_ off! You just fucking got here!"

The Fire Angel's face was beginning to go red, but Lilith glared up at him challengingly. Like clockwork, Nema was beside him, reaching for her little daughter. Michael was careful while handing her off, though his face became moodier and moodier...

Handing Isobelle to her mother was Michael's go button. He grabbed Lilith by the front of her baggy, torn-up shirt. "You're a fucking idiot, you know that, little girl? You! Are a fucking! _Idiot!_ You round up a bunch of _Angels_ to come down here for some drug-induced bullshit prophecy, only to find out Vampire King Judas has a stick up his ass when it comes to _non-Assiah types?_ Really, bitch? So what's there to figure out? He wouldn't listen to _your_ Demonic little ass and you're the closest thing to Damned, here! So you know what, Lilith? Listen closely 'cause I fucking hate repeating myself!" Green eyes burned into maroon ones. "It's over. Your bullshit prophecy and the game that comes with it is _over._ Thanks for nothing, _Princess;_ you've wasted my damn time!" He roughly released her, her ratty sneakers hit the pavement in a stumble. Michael motioned down the street with a jerk of his head, "Let's go..."

"No you don't! No you fucking don't!" Lilith snapped and began following him. "I've worked too damn hard to end this here because you just wanted to stay home and bone your Rabbit wife!"

"Watch it!" Michael spun and snarled at her.

Behind them, Uriel pinched the bridge of his nose in a fruitless attempt to quell a building headache. He left Hades for _this_?

"_You_ watch it!" Lilith shot back. "Bullshit or not, you all came! All of you! So you may as well shut your fucking mouths and _work_ with me, here!"

"Yeah, and how? I guess he thinks Angels are better than Evils?"

"Look, I don't _know_, okay? But we gotta figure this out! Let's just get stupid fucking Judas to see reason, and then I can _finally_ stop dealing with all you jerks for the night!"

"I think calling Judas 'stupid' is a bit naive," Uriel interrupted flatly. "He is a powerful man with a great amount of influence on Assiah."

"What do you know about him?" Jibril asked quietly.

"Just what I've read. He was, of course, the disciple to betray Jesus. When he did, he was not allowed into Heaven, or Hell. He was doomed to walk Assiah as an immortal... and became the first Assiah-bound Revenant... A Vampire. And it makes perfect sense as to why he would hate our kind. Here in Assiah, he is powerful and influential. A God to all the ones he made in his own image... seeing us would only remind him of his true place. It's going to take more than just some angry little girl to make him see reason."

"Michael." Nema risked his fiery rage, coming up to lay a snowy white hand on his shoulder... offering Isobelle to him, again. "I have an idea... take Bell Bell for me?"

"What idea?" His voice was still rough around the edges, even as he took his daughter from her.

Nema was already walking off, waving her little white cell phone at him. "I need to call someone..."

That reply wasn't enough for him. "What idea?" He trailed after her, even as Lilith swore in frustration and kicked at the ground... but Nema wouldn't reply to him until her boots had carried her all the way over to the tree their son had abused.

"I'm calling oppa." Already she was scrolling through her contacts.

She knew he'd scoff. "Yeah, that'll help."

"He's a Vampire, too..."

"And he's _not_ bound here. _That's_ the issue."

Nema motioned helplessly with her hands. "He's the only option I can think of...!"

"Nema, who cares about options? This is stupid!"

Nema hit the call button, but Michael kept on speaking as she listened to the dial tone, his eyes slipping into blue, his voice steadily dropping and losing its edge.

"Nema, let's forget this prophecy bullshit and go home. Let's go home... We can meet up with Rujiel and Nyssa and meet their kid and not get dragged around by some fucking child with a God complex."

"But she didn't do this for nothing, Michael..."

"She did this because she got _high._"

Nema laughed. "You don't even know if she got high at all...!" Michael tried to reason with her further, but she rested the handle of the steak knife she still held against his mouth and listened to him grumble. Her smile widened as her call was finally answered, "Oppa...? Hey...!"

xXxXxXx

A soft, gentle, silky kind of hum slowly slipped from between the tan lips of one of Lord Lucifer's several right hand men. White gloves rested on the mahogany vanity for the time being, as he brushed back the dark waves of his hair into a low ponytail, right at the nape of his neck. His nimble fingers adjusted the white cravat, neatly tucked into his black vest and coat. He worked to make himself presentable by candlelight, the golden flickering coming from two candleholders on each side of his mirror.

"Dear, dashing Jinho." A mischievous, honey-toned voice seeped through the wall as first a top hat, and then wild, curling red hair slipped through.

Jinho didn't move, the impossibly black irises of his eyes barely shifting to view the Satan of Pride. "Dear, dashing Hatter. You look marvelous." He replied with a smile that the Hatter reflected back widely on painted, black lips.

"What tasks shall you steal from me today, I wonder?"

Jinho kept the smile on his face, though he knew full well that the Satan was a touch bitter in the way the that only she could ever be. He hadn't been the first of Lucifer's so-called right hand men, but just like them, the Mad Hatter had accepted his presence with grace... even if it was no secret that more men meant less tasks and errands for her to perform for her love Lucifer. Less chances to please her Lord and end up outright disgusting him, to pointlessly express her love for him, though he had already taken a Queen...

So he only responded to the Hatter's sweet-sounding, slightly-vulnerable question with honesty. "None. Today I am taking my monthly leave..."

"Ah, yes...!" The Satan gave Jinho a happy grin. "It is time to visit the six, isn't it? Won't that be nice?"

Of course the Hatter found it nice. Jinho found it nice, as well... albeit not in the same way. "Yes, it will be nice..." He was quiet, now, gently slipping on his white gloves.

"But first...!" The Mad Hatter was beside him in a flash, a nimble wiggle of her fingers conjuring the ornate ear and mouth piece of an antique phone. "You have a call."

Jinho's impossibly dark eyes blinked in a rare moment of surprise. "I hadn't heard the ring."

"You were still showering. I took the liberty of putting the caller on hold for you."

"How kind of you..." Jinho didn't bother to address the fact that this meant the Hatter had been in his room before announcing herself... She was notorious for flitting in and out of rooms as if she owned all of them. He simply lifted the phone from her hand and held it to his ear, watching as the Satan perched herself on his vanity and conjured the rest of the phone into her hands, pressing a button. "Hello?"

"Oppa...? Hey...!"

Jinho couldn't keep the smile from his face, and saw the Mad Hatter mimic it sweetly, her head tilting to the side. "Nemaelle...! This is a surprise! I haven't heard from you in so long...!"

"You could have called." His pale friend suggested.

"Very true." Jinho agreed heartily, not wishing to start an argument. "How have you been...? How are the children? Is Nathan still throwing things?"

"Knives, now."

"Knives!" Jinho's laugh was warm honey, seeping through the phone and into Nema's ear. "I thought you didn't want to encourage such activity?"

"Michael jumped at the chance to start teaching him. I couldn't say no." Nema admitted with a sheepish smile. "But listen, um... hopefully we can continue this chat in person?"

"In person? Are you coming here?"

"No, I... I need you to come here. Not to Heaven, but... London."

Jinho was rarely the type to pause, but this time he was truly stumped. "... Assiah is a strange place for you to be, given current events, Nemaelle."

"I know, but...!" Nema sighed into the phone. "It's really complicated, oppa..."

"What has happened...?"

"... You know Lilith."

Jinho was regularly boasted to be witty and quick to reply, gifted with his tongue, but... Nema was successfully striking him silent left and right, today. Lilith... Little, angry Dragonmaster Lilith, his betrothed... Oh yes. He knew Lilith. "... I don't understand, Nemaelle. How has she come into contact with you?"

"She has a prophecy, oppa. Of apocalyptic proportions... times three."

"... You mean the three worlds."

"Yes." Nema said quietly. "And the prophecy calls for the aid of the Elemental Angels, as well as Judas..."

"The Revenant King..." Jinho murmured, seeing where this was going. "I assume you've already tried to speak with him."

"Lilith has."

Despite himself, Jinho smiled. "I cannot see that panning out well... But Nemaelle, I'm not Assiah-bound."

"But you are a Vampire."

"Yes, but it's really not the same-"

"A Vampire with a gift for persuasion. Lucifer is always using you for diplomacy purposes..." Nema listened to the silence on the other end of the line with a small frown on her face. "... I know you and Lilith don't... talk."

"... No, we don't."

"But we just really need this favor. Your parents are from Gehenna. I figured that if anyone really knew the weight of a Dragonmaster's prophecy, it'd be you, oppa..."

That soft pleading in her voice... He wanted so badly to just decline, but... "... I am too kind, aren't I?" He sighed, and the Hatter only tilted her head again.

"You'll come help?"

"I will be there shortly."

Nema grinned and laughed triumphantly. "Thank you, oppa! We'll see you, soon!"

When the dialtone began in Jinho's ear, he placed the phone back on the receiver, pinching the bridge of his nose, a soft and rare Korean curse word slipping from his mouth.

"Endlessly a sweetheart..." The Satan smiled. "I will never be quite sure why that little Dragonmaster won't simply take you."

Jinho chose not to reply, reaching out to take his top hat from the nearby coat rack. He froze when the Mad Hatter reached it first, grabbing and placing it on his head, for him.

"Then you will be away for longer than expected?" She asked with that same smile.

"I'm unsure when I'll be able to return..." He tried to smile back, to make a joke. "Please, take care of things while I'm away?"

The Hatter grinned and beamed. "Absolutely! Lord Lucifer will receive the best of service! Now, then... London?" She snapped her thin, long fingers, opening a strange, swirling, dark void.

Jinho nodded and murmured, "My wives will have to wait..."

"They will be fine. All the dead can do is wait."

As much as those true words hurt, Jinho kept the smile on his face as he slipped through the void and stepped onto fresh, green grass.

"Oh-!" Nema had nearly walked right into him, her full, dark skirt brushing against the legs of his slacks. A grin crossed her snowy pale face, and she laughed. "You weren't kidding about being here shortly...!"

Jinho found it easier to smile as he took Nema's hand and pressed a delicate kiss onto the back of it. "Dark magic, you know..." He wasn't surprised when the Fire Angel reached out to take her hand, his thumb running over her skin as if to check for any Demonic mark left behind. Years and years hadn't changed that much about Michael, but Jinho didn't mind. "Your daughter is adorable, Michael-sama. You must be very proud of your family..."

As Isobelle nuzzled against her father's neck, a proud grin crossed his face, and a short, rough, happy laugh escaped his throat. "Fiercely proud."

Jinho felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked over it to see the Mad Hatter's hand sticking out of the swirling, dark void, his trusty cane in her hand. "Ah, thank you, Hatter..."

"Have fun...!" The Satan's voice chimed just before the void swirled shut.

"Nema, you look even more beautiful than before...!" Jinho carried on the conversation as Michael led them back toward the big group of Angels and the moody little Evil who huffed at them.

"I look exactly the same, oppa." Nema replied with a laugh, but any other words she might have wanted to add would drowned out by the sharp voice of the Dragonmaster.

"_... Shit!_" Lilith's pupils had narrowed into thin slits, again. Jinho. What was Jinho doing here? How did the Rabbit Queen even _know_ him? "You brought the _lecher_ here? What is wrong with you? Ugh!"

Nema's bright red eyes narrowed as she snapped, "I brought _Jinho_ here because I figure he can help! You wanted help, so here you go!"

"Now, now...!" Already Jinho felt miserable, but he slipped between Nema and Lilith, trying hard to keep them from going for each others' throats. Not that he could blame Nema for her anger... Jinho removed his top hat and placed it over his heart, bowing with a flourish, "Lilith, you..." He felt horrible for finding it difficult to come up with a greeting compliment, but Lilith removed him from that burden with a sneer.

"Oh I'll bet I look fucking _gorgeous_, don't I?" She spat out the words, her tanned face turning red in all her frustration. Jinho... Fucking _Jinho._ It was just her luck that Nema knew him and called him in to help... "Do you even know what we're trying to do?"

Jinho fought the urge to sigh and placed his hat back on his head, leaning slightly against his cane. "From what I understand, you need help convincing King Judas to join your cause."

"The guy's impossible."

"Oh, nothing is impossible for Lord Lucifer's favorite diplomat..."

"Lord Lucifer's favorite _liar_, more like...!" Lilith snapped and began stomping her way back down the street she'd come from, toward the iron-wrought gate that was at once striking and ominous and strangely anonymous. "But you wanna help? Fine! Help." She pointed up at the gate, and the impressively-sized mansion just beyond it. "Get your ass in there and make Judas see reason."

Jinho finally allowed himself to sigh, though he directed it at the mansion. It had been years since he'd last seen Lilith... she hadn't changed, but then again, he hadn't expected her to change, either. He pressed the button for the intercom, and a pleasing female voice came through the speaker, asking who waited at the gate. "Please inform our King that a Revenant from Sheol seeks counsel with His Grace."

He knew those would be the choice words needed for the gate to automatically unlock, letting them in. Jinho stepped through the gate and looked at the others over his shoulder. "Give me fifteen minutes. You will have the Revenant King on your side. I swear it."

As he turned to let the gate swing shut behind him, Uriel slipped through behind him, to follow.

Surprised, Jinho looked up at the impossibly tall Angel of Earth. "You wish to accompany me?" That seemed strange... considering all the things he had heard about the Earth Angel's love of seclusion...

"I wish to get away from Lilith. I can only tolerate her for so long." Uriel said with a wry smile.

Jinho only mirrored his miserable smile. "If I succeed in swaying King Judas, we may possibly have to tolerate her for much longer than this..."


	4. Chapter 3

**Layers**_  
__Chapter Three__  
_By: Brenli and Jael__

The strange scent of incense blanketing the faint metallic smell of blood filled Uriel's nostrils as he and Jinho were lead deep into the heart of Judas' mansion. He fought down the nausea that kicked at his stomach and murmured to Jinho, "Do Vampires actually like that smell?" __

_"_I suppose." Jinho replied quietly, so their escort couldn't hear them. "To some, it's like the aroma of cooking food. The incense is a strange touch, though." __

_"_Mmm." Uriel nodded and followed Jinho and their sharply-dressed, serious-looking escort down the long, slightly chilly hallway. If the dim lights were meant to comfort and soothe... they didn't quite succeed.__

_"_And when I reannounce my King's visitors-" The escort started, but Jinho held up a white-gloved hand.__

_"_Please... I do not believe good King Judas would need to be reintroduced to Uriel so soon. His presence is fresh on the brain, I'm sure."__

_"_Putting it lightly." Their escort couldn't help but remark dryly.__

Jinho didn't give the man the pleasure of rising to his comment. "Merely inform his Grace that Jinho of Sheol is here seeking counsel with him."__

_"_Very well." The serious-looking escort didn't waste any time, immediately opening the door at the end of the hallway and announcing with a voice that suddenly boomed, "Jinho, Revenant of Sheol, requesting the presence of his Highness King Judas of the Assiah Revenants."__

The Vampire King was silent, in mid-sip from a wine glass as Jinho crossed into the room and took off his top hat, laying it over his heart with a flourish as he bowed. "Your Grace..."__

Judas' slight smile didn't reach his eyes, traveling to the tall Earth Angel behind him before regarding Jinho with a nod. "Jinho... of Sheol? You come from... further away than any Revenant I've held audience with."__

Those eyes... Jinho knew he was walking in with the odds stacked against him, but he met the King's iciness with a careful mixture of humility and confidence, his back straight as he placed his top hat back upon his head, his ink black eyes downcast. "Lord Lucifer saw fit to acquire a Gehenna Vampire to serve in his court."__

_"_I see. How lucky for you." His words were short and sharp.__

Jinho only met those words with cool, placid tones. "Luck is a matter of perspective. I was raised in Assiah. Assiah is my home."__

Judas' eyebrow raised just slightly, but he frowned. "Oh?"__

_"_Seoul, South Korea. I very briefly spent time in Tokyo before Lord Lucifer summoned me."__

King Judas snapped his fingers, and a woman stepped forward with a few wine glasses on a silver tray. Jinho took in the scent of blood and accepted a glass with a small smile, raising his glass with the King before taking a sip. Years... Decades... So much time had passed since the last time he'd drank pure blood, undiluted with food or drink... It made a rush hit him, and he shut his ink black eyes to mask his surprise. __

Masking his surprise was a good idea, because suddenly King Judas was remarking coldly, fingers steepled as he leaned back in his chair, "Is the time you've spent in my world supposed to get you on my good side, Jinho of Sheol? Everyone knows exactly how I feel about the Gehenna Vampires... pretend cousins, nothing more. You and I both know we are not the same. Our heritage is entirely different."__

Jinho took a breath through his nose as he finished his glass. No problem. He already knew this would be an issue with Judas, and why shouldn't it have been? Here he was, proud King of all Assiahbound Revenants, bending his ear to a free-roaming Gehenna Vampire... "I know we are not the same. It would be silly to make that argument." He set the empty glass back on the silver platter, his tongue briefly licking along his bottom lip, "But being raised in this world has shown me it's merits. We share an interest in Assiah's welfare, your Grace, and I can understand your uneasiness, your wish to look out for your own people. Every good King must do so."__

Judas only gave him that same smile that didn't reach his cold eyes. "Your flattery is only wasting my time. What do you want?"__

He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder at the Earth Angel. "As I assume you may have already guessed... I have come to request that you aid the Dragonmaster Lilith of the Evils and her allies in preventing the advent of certain destruction of your world."__

_"_And as you may have already guessed, I'm really not interested in the matters of your kind, Vampiric or not."__

_"_I'm not asking you to be, your Grace." Jinho raised his smooth voice just slightly as he saw King Judas raise his hand toward the escort.__

The escort stepped forth, but Judas turned his hand out, stopping him. "Then what are you asking of me?"__

_"_I am asking you to consider your own needs, and the needs of your people. I would never ask anything more of you, your Highness." His ink black eyes turned to the ground as he gave a little nod of his head.__

The King of Revenants didn't bother to hide his annoyance, openly frowning at Jinho, now. "You'll have to be a bit more specific, Jinho of Sheol. I don't know how things happening in the worlds of Angels and Demons have anything to do with mine."__

_"… _So Lilith did not take the time to explain the intricacies of her gift, and of the prophecy...?"__

Judas gave Jinho a dry smirk. "Does she really seem like the type who can explain herself eloquently?"__

Of course Lilith didn't explain herself eloquently... It was like pulling teeth, trying to get Lilith to explain herself at all. Jinho allowed himself a soft, quiet but visual sigh, delicately playing on whatever bits of sympathy he could latch onto. "The Dragonmaster has been told by the Shinryu that should this never before seen, powerful force succeed in it's plans, the three worlds will cease to exist. It is an Apocalypse of three times the magnitude we would have ever expected, but that is not the part that would concern you... The part that would concern you, good King, is that it means Assiah would be no more."__

Judas snapped his fingers and replaced his empty glass of wine with a full one... but the frown on his face had softened into something contemplative. "I'm afraid I don't know much about the Shinryu, Jinho of Sheol. Do you believe that this...prophecy is really true?"__

Jinho offered another small nod of his head, keeping his face serene at best, even as his voice raised in confidence. "I do, your Grace. The Shinryu are an all-knowing trio of entities. You could compare them to the Fates that the Greeks revered in the ancient times, here in Assiah. They speak only through the Dragonmaster, but they have proven time and again to guide Gehenna and protect the people there. Unfortunately, the newest Dragonmaster has not often heeded their words, but this... even this prophecy is one that the Dragonmaster Lilith cannot turn away. It is too heavy. Too much is at stake..."__

Moments passed, and Jinho waited as Judas leaned back, staring at the blood in his wine glass, but not taking a single sip...__

The gentlemanly Gehenna Vampire allowed himself to smile, but kept it small and polite. He got him. "I understand very well that you have no interest in those of other realms. You've made this very clear, good King of Revenants. You look out for your own people and this is a very respectable quality in a King... So I ask you, then, to consider your own people. What if the Dragonmaster's prophecy holds true? Your world is gone, then. All of your people, and you yourself. Gone. Is this something you want to risk, good King?" Jinho allowed Judas to give a small, contemplative hum and sip from his glass, and then offered one last verbal push. "If you are concerned about reaping a profit from offering your aid, I'm sure that we can arrange something as well, your Highness."__

Judas took another sip before speaking, this time with a small, subtle smile of his own. "Well, if I am going to have no choice but to help Angels... then there is something that I believe we can arrange, after all, Jinho of Sheol."__

Jinho give him a wide, warm, welcoming smile. "Make your proposal, King Judas."__

The Revenant King snapped his fingers, and Jinho was offered a second glass of rich blood. "I've heard about this new Rabbit they're calling Azrael. Have you heard of the woman who fights by his side...? The one they say is invincible?"__

Uriel spoke up from near the door, arms crossed over his broad chest. "I have heard no such rumor..." Azrael, sure. Uriel may not have left Hades in years, but that didn't stop him from reading newspapers. A woman, though...?__

A glare left Judas' sharp eyes, but softened just slightly when he turned his attention back to the Gehenna Vampire. "I believe they call her Celestiel."__

_"_What would you have, regarding this woman...?" Jinho asked as he swirled the blood in his glass, watching it cling to the sides.__

_"_My Spear... Two years ago, a piece from my private collection went missing. You have likely heard of it as the Spear of Destiny... Based on rumors I have heard, I believe this woman has stolen it."__

This time, Jinho kept his sips of blood small and graceful. "And this woman is in alliance with Azrael...?"__

_"_Yes."__

Jinho swirled the blood in his glass and thought carefully. "If you agree to aid us, you will be in allegiance with a woman who is actively seeking to quell the unrest Azrael and his group have caused... I'm certain she can draw up a plan to obtain the Spear and return it to you."__

Uriel frowned and took a half-step forward. "Jin-"__

_"_This will be fine." Jinho's voice raised slightly - always just slightly, only a delicate change - and lifted his glass. "To our alliance."__

_"_To the promise of my Spear." King Judas replied with a slight smile, and the two Vampires drank to seal the deal.__

Uriel did not bother to hide his frown as he watched Jinho and the King drink to seal their arrangement. Although he knew precisely why Jinho had agreed to such a deal, he wondered how the others would have felt about it. Everybody knew about the Spear... It was a weapon created by God to be powerful enough to slay his own son. The Spear was the weapon that pierced his side and killed him when flogging and crucifixion had not done the job. If this mystery woman really did possess the Spear and fought beside Azrael... __

Judas set his empty glass back on the surface of his desk. "Now that we have come to an agreement, I must ask, what kind of assistance do you even require, Jinho?" __

Jinho lowered his glass and chose his next words very carefully, "I'm afraid I do not know, your Grace. Prophecies tend to be very vague things. All this one has said is that we will need your assistance." __

"Ah. I see." Judas reached out a slender, pale hand and snapped his fingers. "Serissa, my dear. Come here." __

Neither Jinho, nor Uriel, could do much to hide the surprise on their faces when a woman rose from the leather couch in the corner. How could they not have noticed her before? As soon as she stepped out of the shadows and into the light, Uriel noted that she didn't look like she belonged in this place. __

Judas' residence was a place of great decadence and luxury, servants in suits and crisp uniforms, and Judas himself wore some expensive Gucci suit. And this woman wore nothing but a pair of faded blue jeans with a hole in the knee, and a white tank top. Her right arm was covered from shoulder to wrist with a tattoo. Of what design, Uriel couldn't make out. __

Jinho noticed a detail that Uriel could not have registered, a red band tattoo around her left wrist. Oh, this woman had been turned by Judas himself. She was a powerful, ancient Vampire indeed. __

Serissa tucked a lock of chocolate brown hair behind her ear and reached for a canter of red blood with her tattooed arm. "Yes?" __

"Jinho and his entourage will be staying with you until further notice." __

The canter slipped from Serissa's hand and landed on the desk with a dull and rattling thud. _"What?" ___

"Your Grace," Jinho reasoned, "The prophecy specifically asked for your aid." __

"And you shall have it, when you need it." Judas reached out and grabbed Serissa by the belt of her jeans, pulling her closer. She stumbled and he pulled on the belt, forcing her to sit on the arm of his chair as his hand slipped around her hip... holding her there. "Serissa will be my liaison. I am a very busy man and I haven't the time to sit around on my hands waiting for some impending disaster. If you need me, inform Serissa and she knows how to reach me. She has a very large and spacious mansion. You and your party will be very comfortable there." __

"I don't know these people," Serissa said angrily. "You can't just expect me to open my home to them. No, I won't do thi-" __

Judas grabbed Serissa by the nape of her neck. The desk rattled when he slammed her cheek against the surface and held her there. He stood on his feet, sneering down at her as he held her. __

Jinho's eyes bulged and his stomach twisted at this open display of cruelty, but he swept out an arm to stop Uriel from charging forward. He couldn't deny that he felt urges similar to the Earth Angel's... how could the Revenant King stand to treat his servant this way? Why did a verbal refusal serve as a good reason to slam the poor woman's head into the desk...? Even so, he forced himself to stand still and keep the frown on his face small. The prophecy was the top priority, and he couldn't jeopardize it over this...__

"Am I going mad, or did I just hear the word 'no' escape your pretty little lips, Serissa?" Judas growled down at the poor woman, the leisure and calmness he had moments ago gone in an instant. __

Serissa groaned, her jaw clenched in anger. "No, sir. You must have been hearing things." __

"That's what I thought. My imagination seems to be going wild, lately. You seem to get more and more unruly as the centuries pass." Judas' hand fisted into her chocolate hair and he pulled her up by the roots, wrenching her head back so he could stare into her angry eyes. "Am I done imagining things? Are you going to do as I say?" __

"Yes. I will always do what you want me to do." __

"That's a good girl." Judas loosened his grip on her hair and his hand tenderly swept over her cheek. "That's why you're my favorite." __

Jinho and Uriel went rigid when Judas slanted his mouth over Serissa's, giving her a soft and tender kiss that Serissa did not return. She stayed stone still, eyes staring blankly ahead. __

"Now go and stay out of trouble." Judas released her and Serissa turned away from him. __

Uriel would never be able to forget the glare she gave him... it burned into his very soul. He swallowed the lump in his throat and fought the urge to tear Judas to pieces. What kind of man treated a woman that way...? How long had Serissa been forced to endure this kind of treatment? His muscles vibrated with the effort it took to hold himself back. __

Judas stepped around his desk, giving Jinho a pleasant, diplomatic sort of smile. "I'm glad we came to such a good arrangement. Turns out this will work out best for everyone involved, won't it?" He held out his hand, waiting for Jinho to take it. __

If Jinho hadn't needed to worry about keeping in the King's good graces for the sake of prophecy, he would've liked to remove one of his white gloves and slap it across Judas' face. But this was for the greater good... he set that statement on repeat in his mind as he reached out that white gloved hand and took hold of Judas', responding with a handshake both firm and graceful, all at once. "Yes, I believe that everyone benefits from this alliance. I'm sure that I speak for everyone when I say that we look forward to putting an end to this prophecy with your aid."__

"As do I." Judas said with a smile and a small bow of his head. "The sooner this is over, the sooner we can all get back to our lives." __

Uriel chewed the inside of his cheek as he glared at the Revenant King. He wanted to ask just what was going to be so different about Judas' life... it seemed that Serissa's was going to be the one turned upside down. __

He didn't give Judas the pleasure of a goodbye, not that he seemed to mind. Instead he turned and followed the brunette Vampire as she stomped out of Judas' office. __

"Are you all right?" He asked, hearing Jinho's footsteps behind him. __

But Serissa did not answer him. She didn't even look over her shoulder at him. __

"Hey..." As gently as possible, Uriel reached out and took her by the wrist. "Wait a minute." __

Serissa's eyes glanced at his gentle hand around her wrist... and she looked up to glare at him. "Take your fucking hands off of me. Right now." __

Uriel's jaw clenched and his cheeks burned. He released her immediately. "I just want to make sure you're okay." __

"I'm _fine_. Other than the fact that I have to let a group of strange Angels live in my home for an undetermined amount of time, I'm right as rain." __

"I assure you, we will do you no harm," Jinho reasoned gently, fighting the urge to check if her cheek might be swelling from being forced onto the hard mahogany of Judas' desk. "Nor will our group." __

"You're assuming that I'm concerned for myself? You're hilarious." Serissa rolled her eyes. "Let's just fucking go." She gave Uriel one last, fiery glare. "And just so you know, if you _ever... _put your hands on me again, you'll be picking your teeth up off the floor. Is that clear?" __

_"_Miss Serissa, please. There's no need for that. We just want-" The gentlemanly Vampire stopped in mid-sentence when Uriel gently grasped his arm, giving him a small shake of his head. __

Jinho's verbal magic was something many people valued, and yet the Earth Angel knew that silence could be just as good. Especially in this type of situation. Clearly, earning Serissa's trust would take time, and badgering her with words and coddling was just not the best of ideas. Although he wanted to be sure Serissa had suffered no injury at the hands of Judas, it was not his place, nor Jinho's, to step into her life like that. __

They had already invaded her life on a scale that made her very, very uncomfortable. __

_"_You've made yourself perfectly clear, Serissa. I will not touch you again, I swear it." Uriel gave her an unblinking stare and a sincere look, and already he could see that his approach was the correct one. Serissa's shoulders lost their stiffness and her glare softened. A subtle change it may have been, but Uriel instantly felt a bit better. __

Serissa turned and they followed her out the door, down the long hallway, and back out of the intimidating mansion, to meet up with the rest of Serissa's rather unwelcome guests as they waited just outside the wrought iron gate.__

xXxXxXx__

_Authoress' Note: Okay, so it's been... several months. I'm not about to assume that the majority of the readership checks up on my Tumblr - or even knew that I had one (URL is brenli) - so I feel it's necessary to explain the reason for the lack of updating in a note right here. I'm not exactly interested in getting into the specifics of things; the only thing that needs to be said is that thanks to an unfortunate series of events, I spent my summer homeless and hopping between the houses of friends. Internet access was limited to the 3G on my phone, so working on Layers was more or less impossible. I finally got an apartment in September, and though I'm still struggling to get back on my feet after everything that has happened, Jael and I were finally able to collaborate and weave up Chapter Three. So basically... this is me saying, "Oh my GOD I'm so sorry, guys!" Because it is legitimately bugging me how this happened after all the hiatuses Layers suffered during it's first incarnation...___

_This note is also going to serve as a forewarning that there will be no updates until January... Jael won't be able to work on Layers for the rest of this month, as she's being taken out of town. I have a court date to attend in early December that's taking me out of town, and then the rest of December is heavy holiday season, so the both of us will be unable to work on it... So, as frustrating as this has all been, I find myself needing to announce another hiatus. Just for December. Things should be stable after the New Year, and Jael and I can establish some kind of regular posting. At least monthly. At LEAST.___

_I'd also like to use this time to leave behind a note that Jael wrote regarding the character of Shiva as well as others, such as Kaida, etc... The note is meant to be posted on the CotF Tumblr (because yes, I made one for CotF: URL is chronicles-of-the-fallen), but as CotF doesn't have a high following at all, I feel that posting it here will help clear any confusion. So this is where I bow out, readership...!___

_- Brenli___

_An author's note from Jael:___

_Bren has received some questions from our collective fans, regarding certain characters in Layers. She has remained somewhat tight-lipped about these questions because she is not the one 'in charge' of them. I am. XD___

_As several of these questions have to do with the characters I have created or control, I will take a few moments to level with the fans of the old 'Layers', and share just how this new version of Layers fits in with the old.___

_Spoiler free, of course. XD___

_The first point I will address, is the theory that Judas is now replacing Shiva.___

_The answer to this is both yes... and no.___

_There are certain roles that Shiva played in the Revenant community that she is no longer playing. I revamped this during the very early planning stages of Layers 2.0. In the original Layers, Judas WAS going to be a character who would have been introduced, however with Layers 2.0 I wanted him to have a much bigger, more dramatic sort of role. So, I gave him back the power he SHOULD have had over the Revenants in Layers 1.0.___

_As for Shiva? She's still around. In fact, you've already met her. At her core, Shiva is still the same character, but in the development of 2.0, I literally rebuilt her from the ground up. She is now called 'Serissa'. And Serissa will be playing the same role that was intended for 'Shiva'. But she is a much different, much stronger character, now. And I feel like she's really going to jump off the pages at you.___

_Another question we had was if Kaida and the children Aaron, June, and Chiyo would be present for this new version. Unfortunately for you Kaida fans, her character HAS been eliminated. Sorry, but I just didn't have a need for her, this time around. As for the children? Yes. They will definitely be present. Serissa/Shiva's love for them is a very, very vital part of her._


	5. Chapter 4

**Layers**  
_Chapter Four_  
By: Brenli and Jael

Serissa gingerly touched her throbbing cheek, the frown on her face growing steadily deeper. The abuse she usually suffered at Judas' hands was nothing new to her. In fact, she had grown so accustomed to it that she was surprised she felt any pain, at all.

Her anger outweighed the pain.

What else could she expect? Judas had never respected her. The countless centuries she had spent in his 'service' had always been the same. But with this new blow, she felt her hatred for her master grow tenfold. Her house was about to become a hotel for a group of very unwelcome Angels.  
Did she care about what they might do to her? Not at all. She was a strong, ridiculously capable Vampire. Her only care was for the three children she called her own...

She didn't utter a single word to the Angel and the Vampire who followed her out of Judas' mansion. Tension was still thick in the air, and she knew, without a doubt, that words meant to try and comfort her were running through their heads.

She pushed open the iron gates and saw a group of people standing at the sidewalk. All eyes turned to her.

"Who the fuck are you? Where's Judas?" The little Evil's tan lips pressed and curled into an unhappy, pouting scowl. Her pupils were cat-like slits as she passed Uriel and Jinho the same critical, cruel glare, little hands planted on little hips. "Is this the best you could _do_, lecher? Because this isn't what I-"

"Serissa will be serving as King Judas' liaison during our time together." The Gehenna Vampire spoke over Lilith's hisses. "We must be grateful for every kindness he has decided to bestow upon us."

Lilith opened her mouth to snap at him, but this time, the Rabbit Queen cut her off. "Of course." She offered a small bow of her pale head to the new woman. "Thank you very much for doing this..." If the one who _arranged_ this entire thing couldn't show gratitude, _someone_ needed to try and make up for it...

"We will be staying in Serissa's home until further notice." Uriel said quietly.

Serissa stayed silent. Without even acknowledging Nema or the others, she went to the shining black SUV that sat at the curb. "I have room for four. The rest can follow me." She punched her four digit code into the little horizontal panel underneath the driver's side door handle, unlocking the car.

Uriel didn't hesitate to climb into the passenger seat, while Jinho climbed into the backseat and sighed as he heard Lilith hiss and whine.

"And how exactly are we supposed to follow you? Are we supposed to run?" It was a valid enough question. Lilith herself had done most of her traveling on her magic alone. Jinho had done the same. Apparently most of the Angels had reached Assiah by ships that had done little more than drop them off, bags and all...

Serissa only glanced at the moody little Evil and spoke plainly. "Hail a taxi or two." She climbed into her car.

The group exchanged glances, some angry, some tired, but Setsuna pulled out his phone. "I got it..."

Jibril laid a gentle hand over his phone and offered a quiet, "Could be cheaper to just take the Tube. It would get us part of the way, at least. And then we would pay less in cab fare..."

"Yeah, right." The little Dragonmaster huffed, giving the black SUV a cat-eyed glare. "Let's stuff ourselves into tubes. Why is that even a mode of travel, here? Tubes? _Really?_"

Several tired and annoyed pairs of eyes suddenly became that much more tired and annoyed. "You'll understand when we get to the nearest station, Lilith." Jibril sighed as she took the Messiah's phone and began tapping away on it.

A smile crossed Setsuna's lips as he ruffled his grandson's white hair and nodded at Serissa's car. "You should go, kiddo. Keep an eye on your mother, too."

A wide grin pulled on Nathan's lips, and Nema lightly tapped her father's bicep with a snowy fist, wearing a smile of her own. "Go on..." She told Nathan, nodding to the SUV. As her son ran and scrambled into the dark vehicle, she gave Isobelle little Eskimo kisses and Michael a kiss of his own, lingering only briefly. She could tell how tense he was, even as he held their daughter... Not that she could blame him. "You'll be away from Lilith soon." She whispered to him. "Try not to light her on fire just a little longer, okay?"

That was enough to make the Fire Angel suddenly laugh and kiss the crown of the Rabbit Queen's head, which was all Nema wanted from him. She left the group with a wave and a short, parting bow, hearing her son already rambling as she entered the SUV.

"Wow!" Nathan cooed over the smooth leather interior. "This is a nice fucking car!"

Serissa gave Nathan a startled look through the reflection of her rearview mirror, disturbed over the young boy's foul language. "Erm... Thank you." She slipped the key from the pocket of her jeans and started it. The engine purred to life.

Uriel didn't say anything, but he too was admiring the interior of the SUV. Above anything, he enjoyed the smell of it. A mixture of leather and a faint hint of perfume. He noticed something on the floorboard between his feet and lifted it. He stared at a soft, worn stuffed brown rabbit. "... Friend of yours?"

Serissa gave him a dark look as she took the rabbit and passed it back to Nathan. "Put this in the back for me, please."

Nathan eyed the rabbit for a moment before tossing into into the back of the SUV. "You got kids?"

"'Do I have kids?'" Serissa's lips tugged into the smallest of smiles as she corrected the young boy's terrible grammar. "Yes... I have three." In the reflection of her mirror, she saw Jinho's eyebrows raise.

"How old?" Jinho asked quietly.

"Seven, nine and twelve."

"They as pretty as you?" Nathan asked, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hands.

Again, Serissa was taken aback by Nathan and his... straightforwardness. She couldn't help but smile. "They're adopted."

Uriel threw a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Children? Adopted...? Suddenly, her reservations about letting them stay at her home made a lot more sense. He clicked on his seat belt and listened as Nathan continued to charm Serissa with his questions and bright-eyed innocence.

"That's an awesome tattoo!" He said, reaching out to touch the tattoo that covered the majority of Serissa's left arm. "What's it of?"

"A Hindu God. Shiva the Destroyer."

"Never heard of her."

That just made Serissa smile a little bit more. "Him."

The little Rabbit boy's mouth opened up again, another off-the-cuff question ready to be fired away, but his mother's laughs stopped him. "Look at you, running your mouth like crazy...! Do I need to get your Dad to talk to you about girls, now?"

Nathan was positively mortified. "_No! _I'm just _saying...!_" He huffed, his face gone red, as he assured Serissa, "Don't listen to Ma; she's a silly woman."

"I'll show you silly." Her snowy fingers tickled her son's snowy neck, and she laughed with him. The boy sighed when the tickling was over, and Nema smiled at Serissa, briefly catching her eyes through the rear view mirror. "Three children is quite the feat...!" Nema could barely manage two. The thought of three overwhelmed her...

"It doesn't feel much like work." Serissa said.

Uriel watched her fingers tighten on the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. She fell silent and focused only on the road before them. He frowned as he wondered what had made her shut down, all of a sudden. She had seemed so hard and stubborn until Nathan began to speak to her, and then, he got a brief glimpse at the woman he assumed she really was, on the inside. A kind woman who loved a trio of children enough to adopt them and call them her own. A woman strong enough to endure abuse from a man who owned her. A woman who let the bright-eyed innocence of a child melt her icy exterior. And then, as though somebody had flipped a switch, she was moody and quiet again. Like she had quickly thrown up a wall and boxed herself in...

Uriel knew what she was doing, and it made his heart ache. It killed him to know, and to see, exactly what she was doing. After all, hadn't he been using the same tactic for years, now?

She turned on music to keep the chatter down as she drove the rest of the way to her mansion. She parked out in front of the sterile-looking, white three story home. Uriel unclicked his seatbelt and stared out the window at it. It certainly made his mansion in Hades look like something Dracula would live in... The hedges out front were perfectly trimmed, flowers of every color blooming in the flower beds in front of the wrap-around porch.

"This is a lovely home, you have." Jinho's cane tapped against the ground as he spoke softly, his ink-black eyes drinking in the view of the prestigious mansion.

"Technically, it isn't mine." Serissa said. "It's Judas'. I just live here with my kids."

"Still," Jinho removed his top hat and held it in his hands, "To be given such an amazing home...? I imagine there aren't many in Judas' employ that can make such a boast."

To that comment, Serissa gave the Gehenna Vampire a wry smile. "He's always told me I'm his favorite creation. So no... there aren't."

"His favorite creation?" Uriel couldn't do anything to hide the bite in his voice. He clenched his jaw and looked away. He only saw her as a creation? No wonder he treated her like she was just an object. His property.

Serissa climbed out of her SUV, the others following her. She watched as the young Nathan ran around in her front yard, oohing and aahing over her fountain and landscaping. Serissa found another smile tugging on her lips as she twirled her keychain and isolated the one to her front door.

"Sessy! Sessy, you're home!"

Serissa nearly dropped her keys. A little girl with long black hair had thrown open the front door to Serissa's house, charging for her, a piece of paper flapping like a flag from her hand.

"June!" Serissa grunted when the girl all but tackled her. She scooped her up and laughed, letting June wrap her little arms around her neck. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Early release day, remember?" June giggled when Serissa propped her onto her popped hip. "I drew you something!"

"You did! Let me see!"

As June showed Serissa her little crayon drawing and babbled on about her day at school, the others looked on. None of them felt the need to interrupt; after all, how could they? The sudden difference in Serissa was staggering. The moment June showed up and threw herself into Serissa's eager arms, she had begun to glow. Her smile was easy, carefree and genuine. The little glimpses of that smile Uriel had seen when she watched Nathan had broken through, and it had shattered whatever mask of melancholy she had worn before.

"Sessy, who are they?"

"June. We're going to have some company over for a little while. Do you want to say hello?"

June's cheeks turned red and she buried her face into Serissa's brown hair.

"Oh, _now_ you're gonna be shy." Serissa gave the others a small smile and an apologetic shrug.

But a charming, smooth smile curled upon Jinho's lips as he stepped closer, stopping two paces away from Serissa and the half-hidden June. "Please, don't be shy, little lady June." His smile widened, his fangs on display as he sweetly spoke, resting his top hat over his heart. "We won't do you harm or treat you poorly..."

Nema smiled as the Gehenna Vampire worked his charm, brushing her snowy hair over her shoulder and calling out to her son. "Nathan...!"

"What?" Nathan hadn't even looked up, too preoccupied with poking a water strider across the fountain's pool of water with his pale little finger.

"Come here and meet June!"

Nathan looked up, and it was only when he realized that the girl was around his age that he grinned and ran over, white hair bouncing in the breeze. "Hey...!" The boy was small and young, and yet his presence was so bright it seemed to overpower Jinho's, who only laughed and stood when the boy held out his hand for a handshake. "Name's Nathan. So you named after the month or something?"

"I don't know..." June said shyly, and Serissa set her down.

"Are Aaron and Chiyo home?"

"Yep. Aaron started on his homework, already... I think Chiyo's getting our, um... dinner ready."

"She's what?" Serissa's eyes narrowed and her tone hardened.

Suddenly, June seemed flustered. "She just wanted to help! She knows that you don't like-"

"Come on." Serissa took June's hand and lead her inside. She assumed the others would have followed. Whether they did or not was of little concern to her in that moment. "June, go upstairs and start your homework. I'll bring your dinner in a bit, okay?"

"Okay..." June said softly, and she ran up the set of stairs in the entryway that led to the upper levels of the mansion.

"Chiyo?" Serissa turned and headed for the kitchen, unaware of Uriel staying close behind her. After all, none of them really wanted to lose sight of Serissa. The interior of the mansion was huge, and obviously easy to lose your way in.

"Sessy, is that you?" A voice floated out from the kitchen, and a girl, no older than twelve, rushed out of the kitchen with a smile on her face. "You're home!"

Uriel froze and gaped at the girl. She had stark white skin and red eyes, and the white hair that was the trademark of an I-Child...!

The Earth Angel wasn't the only one who was in shock. The Rabbit Queen's mouth had dropped open just slightly as she looked down at the young girl. There was no mistaking it... this girl was an I-Child. But it had been _years_ since a Rabbit had chosen to live on Assiah. Nema herself had been such an odd case, no one had thought she _was_ a Rabbit until she she started making light bulbs and flower vases shatter... And those other few that had sought refuge here had done so for just that - desperate refuge in the heat of the Rabbit Hunting. Given the choice, so many preferred to live in Heaven...

Nema's hand automatically went down to run through her son's hair, and her ruby eyes swiveled back up to meet Serissa's. "Is she...?" She knew she wouldn't have to finish the question. The question was loud enough, all on it's own.

"An I-Child?" Serissa said, her mouth tight with a restrained frown. "Yes. She is." Serissa stepped toward Chiyo and noticed the red bag of fluid the girl held in her hand. She went rigid and her face turned slightly... green.

Chiyo hid the bag behind her back. "I'm sorry, Sessy...! I just wanted to help...!"

"I know, baby." Serissa said, swallowing back her nausea as she held out her hand to take the bag from Chiyo. "But you know I don't like you handling any of this. You're not-"

"A Vampire, I know. But it makes you-"

"Go upstairs, okay? You need to do your homework."

"... Okay." Chiyo finally took a moment to look at the others standing behind Serissa. A very tall, tan skinned man, another man in a top hat... and two people with coloring just like hers. "Who are they?"

Serissa frowned, but offered up introductions, anyway. "Chiyo, this is Uriel, the Angel of Earth. Jinho, a Vampire from Gehenna, and... Nemaelle and her son, Nathan."

The moment Serissa mentioned Nema, Chiyo recoiled, taking two full steps backwards as she stared at Nema, eyes wide. She seemed... frightened. Angry. "What is _she_ doing here?!"

"Judas says they have to stay here for a while, Chiyo. Just for a little while."

"I hate him and I hate _her!_" Chiyo exploded with angry yells, and her face turned pink when she glared at Nema, "You stay _away_ from me! I watched my mother _burn_ because of you!"

Serissa's frown only deepened when Chiyo turned and ran for her room. Uriel instinctually reached out a hand as the girl charged past, but stopped himself from grabbing her. From interrogating her. Where had that come from?

Nema's breath had caught short in her throat. She... wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting. In some ways, she'd heard these claims made before, but from the mouth of a child, in that moment...

"What the fuck was _that_ about?" She heard her son snap.

"Nathan-"

"Make her come back! Make her say that shit again!"

"_Nathaniel!_"

Her son turned livid, fiery red eyes up at her, hands balled up into little white fists. Nema pointed in the direction they'd come, hoping her arm wasn't shaking. "Go. Now. I'm going to talk to you outside."

"She's fucking _dumb, _Ma-"

"_Now_."

Nathan didn't fight her, not this time, not with the way his mother's voice wavered. His feet dragged as he angrily left, a bundle of curse words he'd picked up from his father dripping out of his mouth.

Nema tried to look Serissa in the eye, but somehow, that was a much too difficult thing to do. "I... I'm s-" She wasn't even sure what she was apologizing for... She turned on the high heel of her knee-high boots and followed after her son.

Suddenly the room was silent in a way that pierced everyone's ears. "... Let me wait for the others. I'll be sure to escort everyone in once they've arrived." Even Jinho couldn't quite hide the shock in his silky voice, and he quickly bowed his head before striding away, calling for Nema.

Once Jinho had left, Uriel found himself standing alone with the brunette Vampire. The awkwardness of the young girl's comment left a certain air of tension in the room, even after everyone else had left.

"Dare I ask what that was about...?" Uriel asked, trying his level best to keep his voice steady and soft.

Serissa sighed and swept her tattooed fingers through her hair. "It's complicated."

"It seems that you and I will be spending a lot of time under the same roof. I'd like to hear it."

She jerked her head towards the kitchen, urging Uriel to follow. He did so slowly, watching her as she put the bag of blood on the counter and filled a pot with water. "Chiyo's parents were I-Children. They came to Assiah before the Hunting started. A group of Hunters came down here... looking for Nema, it seemed. Anyway, they found Chiyo's parents and killed them. Right in front of her." Serissa took the pot full of water and set it on the stove, pausing for a moment. The next words were so hard for her to say. "... She was about four years old."

"Why didn't the Hunters kill her too?" Uriel asked softly, sobered by story.

"I don't know. But they just left her there. I found her some time later... She was... next to her mother. Her corpse had been set on fire and half burned. She was bloated from rot and Chiyo just kept... trying to wake her up."

"How can you let her remain so filled with hatred? It wasn't Nema's fault." Uriel stepped up beside Serissa, purposely coming closer so she would look up at him. "It isn't... healthy to let a child hate someone as much as she obviously hates Nema."

"Who am I to tell her what she should think?" Serissa said, staring up at him with a strange... blankness in her gray eyes. "She's surprisingly well informed. And she isn't the only Rabbit to feel the way she does. Hence, your little problem in Heaven, right now."

"But isn't a parent supposed to protect a child from the things that make them angry? The things that hurt them?"

"I would do her no favors, shielding her like that. I have no idea what that girl is feeling. I don't know, and neither do you. I can't tell her what to think, or how to deal with the things that cause her pain... only she can do that."

"And you would do nothing to guide her...?" Uriel stepped back when Serissa stepped by him to retrieve a second bag of blood from a refrigerator stocked with the several more.

"When it comes to matters of overcoming a traumatizing past, I would be a poor teacher. She doesn't talk about what happened. I don't even know the finer details. How can I help her when the real events of her past are all but a mystery?"

"I can't exactly argue with that. You seem to have your own baggage."

"What makes you think that?"

Uriel selected his next words very carefully, watching her intently with each word he slowly spoke. "You're a Vampire... and the sight of blood makes you queasy."

Serissa stumbled and nearly dropped the red bag into the boiling water. How did he...? She had kept that fact a secret from everybody except those close to her for centuries and this man... This man had noticed it immediately.

"I imagine there's a story behind that," Uriel said softly. He knew that hearing such a story would be a silly thing to hope for, but still he watched her, knots clenching in his chest. Moments stretched on and felt like hours as Serissa only watched the pair of red bags float and tremble in the pot.

"You'd be correct in assuming that. But incorrect in assuming that it's a story I'm willing to share." Serissa removed the bags from the boiling water and poured the steaming red liquid into a pair of glasses. "We all have our demons, Earth Angel."

"Truer words have never been spoken," he muttered quietly. "I have quite a few of my own." He even felt the faces of his demons bubbling in the surface of his mind, like the bags had done in their little pot of water. He felt words on his tongue that could have described them to her. If all she did was ask...

Serissa lifted the pair of glasses and gave him one last, lingering look, before leaving him alone in the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 5

**Layers****  
**_Chapter Five_**  
**By: Brenli and Jael****

**"**How many more times are we gonna have this talk, Nathaniel?"****

**"**But she said _stupid _shit!"****

**"**No! That's no excuse!"****

The young boy was still red at the ears as he insisted, "_But-!_**"******

**"**No buts! We're guests here, and that was rude!"****

**"**_She_was rude!"****

**"**Nathan...!" Red eyes burned and clashed against red, a tight frown mirroring another one. "You let me handle it. Understood?"****

The five-year-old kicked at the concrete that formed the top steps just outside the front door. "You weren't gonna say _anything_." He flopped down onto the steps and glared at the ground.****

Nema sighed as she looked down at her peeved son. God, she couldn't have him acting like this every time his family was met with scrutiny... She dropped down right behind him, wrapping her pale arms around him and kissing the crown of his head. "I can defend myself, hon..."****

Nathan didn't answer right away, one foot still kicking at the ground. "... I know." He looked up at his mother. "Do I gotta say sorry?"****

**"**Yes." She laughed as her son moaned and pouted. "You can do it tomorrow." Nema kissed his cheek and held him tight. "My little soldier..."****

**"**Is the fire out?"****

Nema looked up to see Jinho standing behind her, leaning just slightly on his cane. "The fire's never out, in this family." Her son yawned, and she embraced him tighter, letting him lean back against her torso.****

A soft chuckle left the lips of the Gehenna Vampire. All three people fell silent, Nathan drifting off to sleep against his mother, Nema lost in thoughts about an angry little girl who put blame on her. Jinho simply... waiting for the child to fall asleep before he spoke again. "... May I speak with you about your... civil matters?"****

**"**You mean about the Uprising." Nema called it what it was, taking all of Jinho's sugarcoated words and tossing them aside.****

**"**I'm... assuming that little outburst from Chiyo is of some relation to it?"****

**"**Oppa, I honestly don't even know, anymore." Nema was suddenly very tired.****

A small, oddly charming frown creased Jinho's smooth lips. "The Uprising has become that violent?"****

**"**No." Nema was quick to correct him. "There have been... squabbles, here and there. Glorified bar fights, basically..." She didn't have the heart to admit to her childhood friend that the squabbles had been happening more and more often, as of late. "Not... not what she was referring to."****

**"**... The Hunting, then."****

Nema turned sad eyes up at him and said nothing.****

**"**Why are you being blamed for the Hunting?"****

She opened her mouth to speak, and some choked sound came out. She shrugged gently, hoping not to wake her son. "It's not... really... like that. I don't know what happened to that poor girl and her family... But... there's a lot that some Rabbits still want answers, for. And they're looking at me, because of it."****

Jinho took a seat next to her as she brushed feather-soft kisses on the top of Nathan's sleeping head. "What do they want...?"****

**"**I already said, oppa... I don't even know, anymore." Nema gently nuzzled her cheek against her son's head. "I used to think this was about faster progress... and, you know, I'm trying. I live in a near-constant state of lobbying, now. But I guess that's not enough...?" She sighed miserably. "This man Azrael is crying out left and right about justice, but... I worry about what he thinks 'justice' is..."****

The Vampire wished he knew what to say... usually, he did. But he knew he could offer no solution, and any comfort would be all too brief for the Queen of Rabbits...****

**"**... Sometimes I still have these... nightmares, I guess. About the Battle at the Fields. About Lilliel, just... beyond saving. Michael says that's normal. But... if Azrael is pushing where I think he's pushing..." She paused, biting her lip. "Oppa, I don't want to go down that road, again. Not if I have a say in any of this. I don't want more war, not when we have so many other ways to get what we want and _not_be slaughtered in the process. I started the Revolution because we _needed_to. We weren't being given the chance to speak. We were against a wall; we had no choice... But it's different, now..."****

Jinho sighed, reaching out to gently tap her mini-crown, cocked off to the left, like usual. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown..."****

Nema reached out to bump her ivory fist against Jinho's shoulder. "If getting rid of it means the Uprising dies down, I think I'd actually stop wearing them." She spoke with teasing tones, her ruby eyes smiling at him.****

The lights from first one taxi cab, and then another, shone on them as they drove up to the mansion and parked, letting out all of their passengers. The all-too-familiar whine had already started and grew even louder as Lilith scrambled out of the car. "Why couldn't we just take _these_the whole way? From now on, we are _only_taking these wherever we go! I am _never_-"****

**"**Lilith! Just... shut! The fuck! _Up!_**"******

**"**And you wonder why your son's mouth is so dirty." Jinho teased Nema.****

**"**I don't _wonder_anything!" She rolled her eyes and laughed, Nathan waking and blinking the sleep from his eyes.****

The three of them stood as the little Evil stomped her way up the steps. She seemed... frazzled. Her cat-eye pupils had shrunken into thin slits, her champagne blonde hair was mussed. "We got rooms?"****

**"**Serissa briefly mentioned during the ride here that the majority of the rooms are vacant with the doors left open." Jinho offered quietly, his face bewildered just from looking at her.****

**"**Good!" As quickly and noisily as she had appeared, she disappeared, rushing into the mansion.****

**"**Dare I ask...?" Jinho asked the War Angel as he moved up the steps and handed a very tired Isobelle to Nema.****

**"**I guess the brat doesn't like metal cans. I think we should _keep_her in one!" A wide, mean grin pulled on Michael's lips.****

**"**Metal cans?" Nema's snowy brows pinched together in confusion.****

The Fire Angel only shrugged and ruffled his son's hair. "That's what she kept calling 'em...!"****

xXxXxXx****

**"**... These aren't tubes." They'd _called_this 'the Tube,' but... those were _not_tubes!****

**"**Of _course_they're not fucking tubes!" Michael snapped. "Which one are we catching?"****

**"**This one, hurry!" Setsuna was already taking long strides to the nearest train with Jibril at his heels.****

**"**Shit..." The Fire Angel cursed and ran, Isobelle giggling as she bounced in her father's arms.****

**"**Hang on...!" Raphael looked down at Lilith. "Come on, we need to get in."****

**"**I'm not going on that."****

The Wind Angel blinked. "... Why not?"****

**"**Everyone in there looks like fucking fish in a metal can. I'm not going on that."****

A series of sighs came from the rest of the group as Setsuna held the doors open with his hand. "Come on, Lilith. There's nothing wrong with taking the Tube!"****

**"**_These are not tubes!_**" **Lilith screeched, her eyes widening as she saw another train go speeding by.****

**"**Are you claustrophobic?" Raphael asked, a golden brow arching high.****

The Dragonmaster gave him a sharp, hot glare. "_No_, I just don't wanna go rocketing around in a metal can!"****

**"**Oh for fuck's sake." Michael handed Isobelle to the Water Angel, stomped over and grabbed Lilith by her little waist.****

**"**_Put me down! _Put me down, you fucking asshole!" Lilith flailed and screeched.****

**"**You're getting on this damn metal can or we're all going home, _Princess!_**" **He snarled as he carried her on, tossing her into an open seat.****

**"**Sorry, don't worry..." Raphael tried, weakly, to cover for the madness as he stepped onto the train and gestured helplessly to confused and nervous passengers. "She's not from around here..."****

xXxXxXx****

**"**Did a number on Setsuna when the train got going." Michael snickered and motioned at the Messiah with a jerk of his head.****

Setsuna rolled his eyes, a series of thin scratches turning red and slightly welted across his cheek. "Ridiculous. She was like a cat tossed into a bathtub..." He paused when Raphael stepped up and briefly laid his hand on his cheek, the scratches disappearing under his touch. "Thanks."****

**"**Don't mention it. So where's Uriel?" The Wind Angel asked.****

**"**He seems to have stayed inside with Serissa..." Jinho answered with a slight smile. "The rest of us stepped outside for a moment."****

Nema reached down with her free arm to teasingly prod the back of her son's head as she spoke to Michael. "Our son is in trouble, again."****

**"**I still say she was being _dumb_." Nathan insisted in a low, pouting grumble.****

Michael's eyes blinked and traveled from son to wife to son, again. "... Did she deserve it?"****

**"**_Michael._**" **Nema gave him a sharp little glare. "The girl in question is a _child_. She didn't deserve _anything._**"******

**"**But she was saying stupid shit, Dad!" Nathan reasoned with his father, "Saying it's Ma's fault her parents were burned-"****

**"**Nathan. Enough. I won't tell you again."****

Her son buttoned his pale lip, but he'd already said enough to catch everyone else's attention. "... Burned?" Jibril's voice was smooth and soothing even as she questioned her daughter.****

Nema nodded, a moody frown curling her lips.****

**"**... Uprising?" Jibril knew that was doubtful, but asked anyway.****

**"**No."****

**"**... The Hunting."****

**"**Okay, Mom? Can we just get settled inside?" Nema snapped and glared at her mother.****

The Water Angel sighed and gave her an understanding smile, and Nema felt herself melt.****

**"**We can talk after..."****

Jibril nodded. "Just not now."****

**"**Not now..."****

She gave the Rabbit Queen a kiss on her pale cheek and motioned for everyone to follow her in with a gentle nod of her head.****

xXxXxXx****

Celestiel swirled the wine in her glass before taking a small sip. The ticking of the clock on the wall seemed deafening in the silence of Azrael's quarters, but she found that she didn't mind the sound. It soothed the raging storm of thoughts in her mind. ****

**"**I had expected to see you sooner, Celestiel-sama." Azrael murmured softly, shrugging off his coat and dropping it onto his bed. ****

**"**I've been busy. A bit of a problem has come to my attention... I've been working to neutralize it." ****

**"**What's happened?" ****

**"**It seems that the Dragonmaster of Gehenna caught wind of something. She has gathered the Elemental Angels to Assiah." ****

**"**Assiah? Why Assiah?" ****

Celestiel turned her dark eyes to arch a brow at Azrael, and she didn't need to say another word. ****

**"**They know about the Spear." A worried look flashed over Azrael's pale features. "This is bad." ****

**"**It's not as bad as you think it is, silly Azrael." Celestiel said with a small chuckle. "As long as the Spear calls me it's Master, they cannot take it from me. But it seems the Shinryu pointed them all in a very... useful direction." ****

**"**We have to kill the Dragonmaster. Who knows what else the Shinryu have told her? Or what they _could_tell her...!" ****

**"**No need to point out the obvious. This is a problem I've already taken care of." Celestiel plucked a vial of liquid from her pocket and rolled it across the table. "I've already discovered their hiding place on Assiah. They are staying with the Vampire, Serissa." ****

**"**You're kidding me." ****

**"**No. A minor setback, but nothing we can't handle. Where are we with the Rebellion?" ****

**"**Many of my followers are reluctant to do much of anything. Because of Nemaelle." ****

**"**And her annoying ability to make things explode, at will." ****

**"**More or less." ****

Celestiel leaned back in her chair and thoughtfully stroked a long, pale finger over her bottom lip. "You seem to have a bunch of cowards under your command, Azrael. Do they really think they can go after Nemaelle and not endure casualties?" ****

**"**They're nothing more than a frenzied mob, Celestiel." Azrael said with a deepening frown. "She's so strong. And her reputation is enough to make anyone fear her." ****

**"**Have they not seen what I can do? Nemaelle is no more of a threat to me than the world's strongest mayfly." ****

**"**That may be true. But it takes a rare person to willingly give up their lives in the pursuit of a greater good. And I don't have many men like that with us. They are starving, scared, worried for their families. They can do no good when they are dead, and they have every right to be afraid of death." ****

**"**So what exactly are you suggesting here, Azrael?" ****

**"**Kill Nemaelle." ****

Celestiel arched a brow and peered at Azrael, her eyes hiding an unreadable emotion. "And why should I do that?" ****

**"**Nemaelle is only a small part of all of this. You and I both know that. But our followers don't... Kill her, and it will be enough to inspire them. You are the only one who can harm her. The only one immune to her powers." ****

**"**I don't relish the thought of simply killing her for the sake of inspiring a mob, Azrael." Celestiel said harshly. "As you said, Nemaelle is nothing compared to what's at stake." ****

**"**Ah, but think what it would do to the Fire Angel," Azrael said with a soft smirk. "If our goals require a bit of chaos... what better way to unleash it than by killing his one true love?" ****

Celestiel sat in silence for a long and tense moment, before a wicked smile spread over her features. "Azrael, you truly are a genius, aren't you?" ****

**"**I have very few admirable qualities, Celestiel-sama." ****

Celestiel rose from her chair and stepped closer to Azrael. "I am sorry you think so poorly of yourself." She traced a finger over Azrael's pale chin. "You're the only friend I have in this world." ****

With a small and trembling smile, Azrael lowered his head. "And you are mine as well, Celestiel-sama." Ghosts played in the tears welling in Azrael's garnet colored eyes. ****

**"**You miss them... don't you?" Celestiel murmured. ****

**"**Always. With every breath I take, I miss them. My wife and child..." Azrael forced himself to look back into Celestiel's cold and empty eyes. Eyes that he had always wanted to see something reflected inside. Something... anything. Hatred. Love. Longing. ****

But he never say anything in those eyes. Only nothingness. Only the same emptiness he always felt. ****

**"**And I'm never going to see them again." ****

**"**No, you won't." Celestiel said, continuing to run her finger over his chin. "Once I kill Nema, we will be one step closer to our goals. It's all within our grasp, Azrael. All of it. Soon the rivers of blood will dry up." She let out a small and quiet breath. "Now kiss me." ****

Azrael felt his insides churn as he leaned down and captured her cold lips with his own. ****

Celestiel rarely gave her body to Azrael, but when she did Azrael closed his eyes and pretended she was his wife. The woman he missed so badly it made him feel sick. Somehow, he knew that Celestiel wasn't thinking of him either, in the rare moments their bodies were entwined. It was strange how the thought never bothered him. ****

They were the two most broken people alive. And even together, they never felt whole. ****

xXxXxXx****

_Author's Note from Jael: I know that Bren and I have mentioned that this chapter was supposed to super long and incredibly eventful. I'm sorry to say that due to some complications we had to cut this chapter a bit short. The GOOD news is, the next chapter is already very near completion. _****

_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm happy I finally got a chance to bring Celestiel back in. _****

_Author's Note from Brenli: The above is in reference to several posts on our respective personal Tumblrs and the Chronicles of the Fallen Tumblr, by the way. I really can't be sure how much of the readership is actually keeping up with us on those three Tumblr accounts, but as a heads up, it is quite handy...! I've been apologetic about cutting this chapter shorter than intended since yesterday, but the regret still remains. All that said, the length of this chapter is pretty uniform with the others... I would bet money that if you didn't know about our original plans for this chapter, you wouldn't have suspected a thing. But, I think it's good to be honest. Please consider this a buildup to the next chapter... there is a lot of madness to come!_


	7. Chapter 6

**Layers**

_Chapter Six_

By: Brenli and Jael

"I fricking _hate _that kid!"

"Watch your mouth, Chiyo."

"Well I do! He won't leave me alone!"

Serissa laughed as she finished braiding Chiyo's long white hair, fastening it with a single black tie. "You know that means he must like you. That's how little boys show it."

Chiyo scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me. He's a terror."

"He's just bored. Five years old and cooped up in a big mansion with no friends? You can't really hold it against him, baby."

"I can, and I will." Chiyo crossed her arms as Serissa took her by the shoulders and turned her to face her. "Do you really have to go to work tonight?"

"You know how Judas is. He can't do anything on his own."

"I fricking hate him, too."

"Stop saying that." Serissa said sternly, gently. "Things might be a bit rough under his thumb, but he still provides us with a good life."

"Yeah, but at what cost?"

Serissa sighed. Try as she might to hide the abuse that Judas inflicted upon her, Chiyo was far too smart to not notice. "Listen. Life is hard. It will always _be_ hard. Happiness is not something that will ever be handed to you... You just have to try and find it in whatever nooks and crannies it may be hiding in. And endure the rest."

Chiyo looked at her feet and nodded. "So you'll be back tomorrow?"

"Yes. And Chiyo, I need you to do me a favor. I want you to keep yourself locked in your room when I'm not here, okay? And make sure Aaron and June do the same. If you need anything from the kitchen, make sure you keep your pistol with you. And don't talk to anybody for any reason. Okay?"

Chiyo didn't argue. She only nodded her head. Serissa kissed her forehead and shooed her off. She slipped on her jacket and picked up the key to her SUV. As she turned to leave, she let out a cry of surprise.

Standing in the doorway was Uriel. He stood watching her with narrowed green eyes, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the jamb. Serissa swallowed and took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough for my faith in your skills as a guardian to be restored." Uriel said with a barely-there smile.

"Well thank you for your approval." Serissa arched a brow and headed for him. Uriel stepped out of the way to allow her to pass through the door he had previously been blocking.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you believe in what you told her? Or are you just telling her what she needs to hear?"

Serissa paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, is all."

Sweeping a hand through her brunette hair, Serissa chewed her lip. "A part of me wants to believe in what I said. I want to believe that happiness really is something anybody can attain, despite any circumstance. But I honestly have no idea if I really believe it, or if I just want to."

Uriel opened his mouth to reply, but his words fell flat. So he changed the subject. "Where are you going?"

"To work. Among my many duties, running one of Judas' various Night-Club-slash-Safe-Houses is one of them. I won't be back until tomorrow."

"Just so you know, your children have nothing to fear from us."

"I think you'll have to forgive me for not trusting you. I don't know you. So if you truly mean no harm, as you say you do... prove it to me by your actions. Because words don't mean anything to me, anymore."

Without another word, Serissa left Uriel alone with his thoughts.

xXxXxXx

The Dragonmaster was as peeved as ever, pulling a comb through the pale blonde strands of her hair a little harder than she should have been.

"Gently, _gently_."

"Shut up, Amber..." Lilith worked more olive oil through the wad of gum in her hair.

Amber of the Shinryu shrugged and twirled a lock of her auburn hair. "Well you don't _want_ to give yourself a bald spot, do you?"

"Seriously, Amber. Shut _up!_ And you can quit laughing, Agate!" Lilith finally pulled the last of the gum out of her hair and threw it at the little dark-haired Shinryu who laughed behind her long, wide sleeve.

"So where is this little bunny boy who's so brave, putting gum in your hair? I want to meet him!" Agate spoke with green cat-eyes shining in mischief.

"Agate, he's like, _five_."

"But he won't _always_ be five, and just you wait...!" Agate was giggling all over again.

Lilith pressed a hand to her temple. "Why are you a fucking _dragon;_ I don't even understand..."

"Mmm, I don't know, that Vampy boy that lives here is going to be more dishy. Wait till he's 20." Amber commented.

"Yeah, but... he's Assiahbound; it's so unfair...!" Agate whined.

Lilith angrily threw the comb down on the floor. "Jade...!" She whined miserably. She just wanted get this check in _over_ with...

Amber and Agate only laughed all over again, but the much calmer, pale-haired Shinryu gently smiled and spoke sweetly. "Now, now, sisters. It has been three whole days since we sent our little Dragonmaster out to gather all the Elementals."

"Yeah, well I got them. Fuck if I know what to do about Judas, though." Lilith grumbled and crossed her arms over her flat chest.

"Don't you worry about Judas." Jade said soothingly.

It didn't soothe Lilith in the slightest. "... You _told_ me I needed Judas. He threw his fucking _lackey_ at me; is that supposed to count?"

A soft smile curled on the pale-haired Shinryu's lips. "Things are going according to schedule. Why don't you let us worry about that part and talk to us about the other things."

"What other things?" She asked flatly.

Amber and Agate had a way of laughing like they were keeping secrets from their Dragonmaster, but Jade simply spoke over them. "It has been three days since you gathered up everyone needed and have since found yourself living here in Assiah with all of them. Has it been going well?"

Lilith let out a loud, rude laugh. "I just peeled gum out of my hair and you're asking me if it's been going _well? _I hate this place! Please tell me that we're going to get the prophecy resolved fucking _tomorrow_ so I can go home and forget all these stupid people!" Lilith listened to Amber and Agate laugh all over again. "It's not fucking funny! This whole thing is a _joke!_"

"Oh, come on, you're not that stupid." Amber scoffed. "We're the Shinryu; we don't make _joke_ prophecies!"

"You may as well." Lilith grumbled, crossing her arms on her desk and burying her round face in them.

The two younger, sassier Shinryu buttoned their lips, though their smiles remained and went unnoticed by the grumpy little Evil. She felt the strange whisper of a touch that came from Jade's thin, wispy hand, and looked up to see her blindfolded face in the vanity mirror. "I ask you again, dear Dragonmaster... Has it been going well?"

Such questions, however silly they felt... Lilith knew the Shinryu well enough to know they were asked for a reason. After all, hadn't she been consulting them... for so much longer than was natural? "... Nobody wants to be here."

"You must make them see how vital the prophecy is, Lilith..." Jade offered quietly.

"As if any of them even really care..." Lilith tried to hide the tightness in her voice. "They probably think I just got high one day and dreamed all this up, and now I'm stringing them along for laughs." She paused, feeling the frown on her face begin to quiver. "They hate me, Jade."

"Well it's not like you're nice to them." Agate commented from behind her sleeve.

"Shut the fuck up, Agate, I'm not talking to you!" The Dragonmaster suddenly snapped.

"Agate..." Jade gently reached out to shush the youngest of the Shinryu, before continuing to speak. "Your culture is not their own. Of course things will be difficult for them to understand... But you must be patient. There will be time. You can teach them, and they can see..." The whisper of a touch brushed across Lilith's cheek, and the little Evil slapped at a tear that threatened to drip from her dark, deep red eyes.

"Isn't the Messiah who your mother had the hots for down here with the Water Angel?" Amber asked as she perched on Lilith's messy bed.

A long pause pierced the air. "... What? Excuse me, _what?_" Lilith looked at Amber with wide eyes, but the Shinryu, including Jade, only laughed. "There is _no way_ my mother had the hots for that guy! You're all lying!"

"Amber makes an excellent point. The Messiah knew your mother very well..." Jade reasoned.

"_He's_ one of the ones who doesn't buy any of this!" Lilith snapped at the blind Shinryu. "Says I'm not being _serious_ enough. Well fuck him, then!"

"What about the Gehenna Vamp from Seoul?" Agate asked, her head tilting.

"Sheol." Amber corrected.

"Oh come on, he's from both places." Her green eyes flashed in annoyance.

"_Jinho?_" Lilith hissed.

Jade gave her a gentle nod. "He may have been raised in Assiah and he may work in Sheol, but the fact remains that he is a Vampire of Gehenna. He is familiar with the culture of Evils in a way none of the rest are. And he is still here, is he not?"

"Don't remind me..." Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose.

Amber leaned forward as she stretched out on Lilith's bed. "You should consider yourself lucky he's still here. The man doesn't exactly have any reason to stick around."

"He will be of great use to you in all of this, Lilith. Already he has proved so." Jade pointed out softly.

"I guess, but..." The little Evil paused, beginning to slouch in her wooden chair. "Jade, what if the Elders find out he's just... here? Two rooms down? They've been aching for a chance to get us in the same place, and now..."

"Well you're not gonna get _married_ here, if that's what you're so worried about." Amber let out a great big laugh.

"I'm not getting married, _period._ Especially not to a lecher like _him!_" She snapped, her pupils thinning into little slits. "Six. Wives... Six of them! Why would the Elders think making me the seventh is fine? I guess they hate me that much, too? They just figure he'll pencil me in every Sunday?"

"Listen to yourself!" Amber and Agate both seemed to hiss back, but Jade held out her wispy hand again, quieting them.

"I _am_ listening to myself! I'm not going to be gift-wrapped and dumped into the lap of some man with six wives because the Elders say so!"

"No, you're just going to keep taking your stupid youth potions and keep pestering us for _another_ several years past your expiration date." Agate muttered behind her sleeve.

Lilith gave the youngest Shinryu a sharp, mean glare. "You have a problem with the fact that you're stuck with me _past my expiration date?_ Take it up with the group of stuffy men who wanted to marry me off as soon as puberty hit!" She hissed and grumbled. "Expiration date... I'm so fucking disgusted with _everything_."

"Maybe Jinho can just shrink himself down to the age you _insist_ on staying at." Agate commented.

"... You didn't listen to a single thing I said, did you?" Lilith grumbled, her hand rubbing across her throat.

"It's so weird that he does that." Amber replied.

"It's genetic; his father can do it, too."

"Weird..."

"Guys..." Lilith said miserably.

Agate's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I'm just saying. He does it for espionage missions so why can't he do it for his seventh marriage?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't really fix anything. She wouldn't pop out a new little Dragonmaster-"

"Guys!" Lilith screamed, gasping slightly when she noted the change in the tone of her voice, the way the Shinryu seemed to... blur, just a bit. She immediately stood and begin fishing through her bags.

"It's that time..." Amber rolled her eyes.

Lilith pulled out a sack made of crushed blue velvet, pulling it open... pausing.

"It is that time, dear sisters." Jade said gently, that soft smile curling her lips just slightly as she held out her hands, Amber and Agate each taking one.

Lilith looked up with wide, unsure maroon eyes. "... Jade?"

"Take care of yourself and your pretty body." Agate said with a giggle.

"And for crying out loud, dress it right!" Amber agreed.

"Wait, guys... wait!" Lilith turned her velvet bag inside out... nothing. How could there be nothing in this bag? She _triple_ checked before she even stepped out of the palace...!

"Be strong." Jade said softly... and they were gone, blurring into nothing.

Lilith's blood ran slow and cold in her veins. "... Jade!" She screamed, immediately standing and looking at her form in the vanity mirror. Still short... still thin, knobby-kneed, child-like. There was time, then, wasn't there? Her little golden hands grasped at the Dragonmaster earrings that dripped from her earlobes, shutting her eyes, murmuring the summoning incantation between worried breaths... Nothing.

The little Evil let out an unhappy scream as she angrily threw her empty blue bag against the floor. Where were her accursed potions? She _knew_ she'd brought them! She wouldn't have left without them! She'd packed up her _entire stash! _And the worst part of all... it would take _years_ before the next batch would be ready for her. Just in time for the current stash to be depleted... But _not_ in time for something like this!

_Where were her potions?_

Lilith thought she was about to just start sobbing... and then she saw the wad of gum sitting on the floor, a few strands of her champagne blonde hair sticking to it.

… Of course. That horrible little boy, son of the Fire Angel. In the past few days alone that brat had pulled on her hair, stuck gum in it, thrown little rubber balls and paper airplanes at her. Why wouldn't he have tried breaking into her room, rifling through things... pilfering the glowing blue vials because he likely thought they looked cool? That had to be it...!

She wasted no time in stomping out of her room, leaving the door thrown wide open as she yelled out the young boy's name. "Nathan...! Nathan, you piece of shit, where are you?" She felt the ping of yet another rubber ball ricocheting off the top of her head.

"Who you callin' a piece of shit?" Nathan snapped, Serissa's two Vampire children standing beside him with wide eyes.

"Come here!" Lilith screeched, and it was enough to send Aaron and June running for some safe corner of the mansion. But brave, foolish Nathan only stood his ground as the little Evil grabbed him by his shirt. "Give me my fucking potions!"

"Your fucking _what?_" The five-year-old swore like a sailor, spurred on by Lilith's own filthy mouth.

"Don't give me that shit! You know exactly what fucking potions I'm talking about!"

"No I don't!" Nathan yelled as he felt himself being lifted off the ground.

"Yes you fucking _do!_" Lilith shoved him into the nearest wall, her pupils thinning into angry little slits. "Give them back, right now!"

"_Hey!_"

Lilith didn't have the time to register what had happened before she'd already been tossed down the hallway like an unwanted ragdoll. She looked up and blinked the stars out of her eyes, seeing Michael looking down at his son, one hand ruffling through Nathan's white hair.

"You okay?" His voice was rough around the edges, but soft in the middle, his blue eyes sharp but worried.

Nathan dusted off his shirt, his firm frown mirroring his father's. "Yeah."

"Good." Suddenly Michael's fiery gaze turned to Lilith. Odd, how his eyes suddenly seemed much more green... and much more mean. The stomping of his boots rang loud in Lilith's ears, and suddenly her vision swam all over again. Michael had picked up her effortlessly and smashed her into the wall. Pictures were knocked crooked as they hung from the wall at either side of her head. "See how that shit feels?" He slammed her into the wall, again. This time a picture fell. "Feels fucking _fantastic,_ doesn't it, you fucking bitch?"

"Stop it!" Lilith screeched, realizing that she could touch the ground if she pointed her toes. Her legs were already longer than they usually were... "I need my potions!"

"_Fuck_ your potions! What does that have to do with this?" Michael slammed her into the wall again. He'd slam her into walls all day _long_; it was what she deserved!

"Your son stole my fucking potions! I want them _back! Now!_" Lilith desperately clawed at Michael's biker-gloved hands as they curled into the shoulders of her shirt.

The War Angel turned a stern gaze to his son and slammed Lilith into the wall all over again. "You steal from her?" Again, she went into the wall. This time she cried out in pain.

Nathan's brows were pinching together, but he insisted on the truth. "I didn't steal anything!"

Green eyes burned into Lilith, again. "Pretty sure he would've 'fessed up by this point, _Princess!_"

"You just don't wanna admit that your son is a fucking dick like you!" The Dragonmaster hissed.

That was clearly the wrong thing to say. Suddenly Michael was pulling her along by her shirt, and she had to scramble to keep up. "Nathan, get back in the room!" He commanded over his shoulder, and then Lilith had the misfortune of receiving all of his fiery, violent attention. "You think you know my kid better than I do? Let me guess, your fucking dragons that you get stoned with told you _everything_ you need to know, right? I am I fucking right?"

"You don't know _anything!_" Lilith screamed at him.

"And you fucking do?" Michael hissed and tossed her into her room like she weighed nothing to him. "My son's a piece of work, but guess what, Princess? _He answers to me!_"

"Get the fuck out of my room!" Like she wanted a man as violent as him inside of her room?

"Not until I fucking _watch_ you turn your damn room over for these fucking potions you miss so much!" Michael threw a bag onto her. "And when you find them – because you're _gonna_ fucking find them – you're going to _apologize_ to my son for what you did to him!" He seethed. "Now start looking!"

"Fuck you!" Lilith angrily threw the bag at Michael, hitting him square in the face. "I know exactly where I kept my potions, and they're gone!"

A livid roar left Michael's lips, and he pounced on the little Evil, green eyes burning into maroon ones. "Is this a fucking Dragonmaster thing? Got your head so far up your ass you think you can't do a _damn_ thing wrong?"

"Get off of me..." Lilith grumbled, her voice low, her tone changing more and more...

Michael began to shake her by her shoulders. "Not till I knock some fucking sense into your entitled fucking brain!"

"_Get off of me!_"

Too late. The next thing that Fire Angel saw was an expanse of golden flesh, torn cotton from her shirt...

Michael immediately pulled away from Lilith's... suddenly very generous cleavage, scrambling to a stand, his eyes wide and frightened. "... What the _fuck?_"

Lilith struggled to hold her shirt over her bosom, no longer flat. To hold the ripped fabric of her pants over the curves of her hips and thighs, the band of her underwear straining and digging into her skin. "Get out...!"

Michael stumbled backwards out of Lilith's room, a bewildered, "The fuck...?" escaping his gaping mouth. He shut the door before the not-so-little Evil could begin throwing all her bags at him.

Even as the latch clicked, Lilith let out a wild, unhappy, livid scream. "_Get! Out!"_

xXxXxXx

"Why do you still do that...?"

"Old habit," Jinho answered easily as he poured a bit of blood into his teacup, already half-full of tea.

"Isn't it... less filling or something?" Nema sipped from her own cup of tea, with only a single cube of sugar added.

"I suppose so...? I'm used to it, now. Drinking undiluted blood is almost..." Jinho paused as he soundlessly twirled a small spoon in his cup, mixing his special ingredient into the tea, "... too strong. I might feel differently if I decided to switch back, but..." A thousand dinners flashed through his mind, dinners with women he would never have dinner with, again.

Nema allowed him to refrain from elaborating, merely supplying her own end to his sentence. "Old habit?"

Jinho gave her a charming, but distant smile. "Old habit."

She watched him as he took a quiet sip of blood-laced tea. "... Lilith doesn't know about them, does she?"

The changes were subtle, but there, nonetheless. A sudden tenseness in his broad shoulders, his lids falling over his ink-black eyes. "What gave that away?"

"She likes to call you a lecher. You're anything but one..."

Jinho's smile only emphasized the way his jaw was firmly set. "She jumped to a conclusion. I see no need to rectify it..."

The teacup clinked lightly against its saucer as Nema set it down on the table. "It can't feel good, being accused of being some massive pervert when all you've ever done is honor them. You deserve better..."

"Lilith will think of as many negative things about every single would-be suitor the Elder Council of Gehenna has chosen for her. Telling her the truth won't change much of anything..."

"So what?"

Red eyes met black as a soft, long sigh slipped out of the Vampire's lips. "So I have always fared well enough steering clear of her. Maybe other suitors who had been betrothed to her enjoyed her cruelty." He busied himself with taking another sip of tea. "... But I have lost six women over all my years, and I loved each and every one of them. I'm not sure if I have enough heart left to give to a seventh... however much I like to joke about it."

"... I wasn't really suggesting trying to court her or anything. She's very... young. Even if it's only by her own hand."

Jinho gave her a rare, crooked kind of smile, still every bit as charming as his other smiles. "If the Elders had their way, she'd never take those potions of hers again... and then she'd have no choice but to be married."

He watched her snowy brows pinch together, watched her open her mouth to speak, but whatever words Nema might have had for him were lost when the door to the room Nema had chosen to stay in flew open and promptly slammed shut.

Michael was wide-eyed, a bit red in the face, as he muttered to several curse words to himself and stomped further into the room. "Nathan get here?"

"Mom and Dad scooped him up, along with Isobelle." Nema stood, her head tilted as she crossed the room and reached out for him. "You okay...?" She traced the line of his tattoo with her snowy-pale finger, an old habit that had never disappeared. "You're kind of freaking out a little bit..."

The blue began to override the green in his eyes, and he glanced at Jinho before answering his wife, "Lilith kind of..."

A pause. Jinho's chair gently scraped across the floor as he stood. "Has something happened to her?" He asked the Fire Angel quietly, his cane tapping on the ground as he stepped closer to the pair.

Michael couldn't even _begin_ to pick the right words to say. Seriously, how the fuck was he supposed to explain this? "She um..." Her body blew up. His face had ended up between breasts that _magically appeared._ "... Fuck!" He stomped over to the table and stole a chair, collapsing into it with a frustrated groan.

Nema and Jinho both glanced at each other before looking at him. "Michael-sama, is she okay?" Jinho tried again.

"I _guess_ she's okay; I don't know!" How the fuck was he supposed to know the answer to that? She wasn't dead, but she...!

Jinho's cane tapped against the ground a few times more, until Nema laid her hand over his to stop him and laughed. "Come on, whatever happened, it couldn't have been that bad..."

Michael's hands tore through his hair as he simultaneously tried to explain what happened and block the memory out of his mind. "She... uh..." His hands waved in front of him.

Nema and Jinho glanced at each other again. "... What is this?" Nema mimicked him, hands waving.

The mighty War Angel gave her a troubled, angry glare and moved again, this time with his hands cupped, seeming to bounce just in front of his chest.

Nema let out a loud laugh. "Oh my God, _what?_"

He threw his hands up and snapped, "It's not funny!"

But Nema couldn't have stopped laughing, even if she tried. "What did she do, flash her little girl chest at you?"

"_No!_" Michael knew she'd get a kick out of this. It _would _have been funny if it hadn't happened to _him._ "And they weren't little!"

"Michael _I'm_ bigger than her; I have _actual_ breasts!"

Michael's eyes grew wide and round. "No, she has you beat. She has everyone here beat."

"Lilith's... body... grew?" Jinho tried to find the most polite way to voice his question, but it was drowned out in all of Nema's laughter.

"What, are they like, bigger than my _head_ or something?"

"I don't know! I wasn't fucking _committing _that shit to memory! But they were..." Jesus... Michael gestured helplessly and realized too late that his hands were up by his face.

Nema thought she was going to run out of breath, soon. "_Your face was in them?_"

He gave up and grumbled, "I'm glad you think this is great, Nema. Why the Hell aren't you jealous or whatever, like _normal_ people?"

"Why should I be jealous? You _clearly_ did not have a good time!"

The table shook when he angrily propped his elbow against it and pinched the bridge of his nose. "God dammit..."

Nema strode toward him, and Jinho suddenly averted his impossibly dark eyes when she crawled into his lap, straddling him, even as she giggled away. "I'm sorry..." She kissed his tattooed cheek.

"You should be." He grumbled, his palms resting on her knees. The soft layers of her skirt and petticoat covered his fingers, and Jinho cleared his throat. As Nema draped her arms around her moody husband, Michael looked up at Jinho and spoke in a rough mumble. "If you tell anyone about this, I might have to kill you."

Jinho spoke to the carpet. "If... if what you're saying is true, everyone is going to find out... about her body, I mean!" He quickly corrected himself. "So she...?"

"... Has tits? … Yeah." Michael said between strange pauses.

A frown curled upon Jinho's face. "... Then she has run out of potions." He looked up at the pair, quickly looked down again when he noticed that the Fire Angel had shamelessly begun dotting kisses on Nema's shoulder. Hiking up her skirt, his fingers caressed ivory thighs, the right one seeming to bare some blue and black markings... a tattoo Jinho vaguely remembered Nema telling him about several years ago, though he'd forgotten all about it, and it really... _really_ did not seem right to look at it, now. "I believe I should go."

"Yeah, you should." Michael said with a snicker.

Nema teasingly prodded his dragon-covered cheek and looked over her shoulder at the Vampire. "See you later, oppa."

He couldn't resist a joke, despite himself. "Much later, I suspect." He moved out of the way of a napkin she threw at him, shaking his head when shut the door and heard some animal growl leave the War Angel's mouth, a squeal leave hers.

At least they were happy, despite being uprooted from their home in Heaven and forced to stay here on Assiah... In some ways, Jinho wished he could say the same. A break away from the heavy air of Sheol... to be extempt from whatever mission the Dark Lord might have in mind for him... to be away from the Hatter's prying eyes. Hadn't that been the whole reason he'd stayed here, the past few days...?

And yet he couldn't exactly say that his time in Assiah was happy. No, it had been full of Lilith berating him for sticking around and everyone else offering pieces of advice even though he didn't ask for any. At least they meant well... Except for Lilith.

But here he was, knocking on her door. He told himself it was important. That much was the absolute truth. If she had run out of youth potions... she couldn't contact the Shinryu. She would no longer be considered the Dragonmaster... And the Elders would want a Dragonmaster. A new one...

"_Go away!_"

Jinho sighed. "Princess, it's only me."

"All the more reason to tell you to _go away!_"

"I have heard that you have no potions." He spoke over her.

The door rattled as something slammed against it with a jarring thump. "Michael's stupid kid stole them! I know it! I _know_ he did! I made damn sure I brought enough with me! So I'm gonna find them, and then I'm going to fucking...!"

"Lilith," Jinho cut into her ranting, "You aren't expecting to hide from everyone until you find your potions, are you?"

"_Watch me._"

"Lilith, please. Open the door so we can talk face to face..."

"No! You can fuck right the Hell off and go _back_ to your fabulous life in Seoul!"

"Sheol."

"Same thing!"

Despite her anger, Jinho couldn't help but chuckle. "I often get them mixed up in conversation, too..."

"Oh! We have _so much_ in common, then!"

"Please, Lilith. Open the door."

"No."

"It can't be as bad as you're making it up to be..." Frustration rarely made him act on impulse, but in that moment, it did. He pushed right through the wood of the door, realizing he hadn't used even a tiny bit of magic since the day he'd come, here...

He saw, briefly, a taller version of Lilith, swallowed up in dark bedsheets, hair mussed. Bleary-eyed. He saw the palm of her hand quickly connect with his face, and he pulled back, stumbling in the hall. His cheek stung and her words were a screeching tirade that he could only barely understand. Why did he do that...?

As soon as he realized that the force of her strike had knocked his top hat off his head, Lilith opened the door just enough to throw it out onto the floor. Jinho immediately whipped out his cane and jabbed it into the doorway, preventing her from shutting it.

"You're a piece of shit, Jinho! Get your stupid cane out of my door!" Lilith snapped.

"I'm sorry." Jinho immediately apologized. "We need to talk..."

"No! No we _don't!_ There is nothing that needs to be said!"

"Lilith, if you can't find your potions-"

"Fuck you, I'm going to find them!"

"_If_ you don't... then we need to talk about this."

Lilith was finally silent, shrugging the forest green bedsheets tighter around her taller frame, disguising the curves she likely developed.

As Jinho looked at her through the crack in her door, he frowned and murmured, "... Your clothes don't fit you anymore, do they?"

The former Dragonmaster didn't speak, didn't even look at him... but she slowly shook her head.

"... What size do you think you are, now?"

"Fuck you, Jinho. I'm _not_ giving you my measurements!"

"I only mean to help-"

"I don't _want_ your help! A lecher like you is just gonna buy me fucking scandalous lingerie and _harem fantasy costumes!_"

The words were cold water splashed into his face, and he immediately frowned. Ink-black eyes clashed against angry, maroon ones with cat-eye pupils. They said nothing...

Until their sensitive ears picked up the sounds of many thuds on the roof of the mansion. "... The fuck is that?" Lilith asked in a grumble.

"I don't know..." Jinho replied quietly, looking up at the ceiling, then through the tall windows at the far end of the hall.

… Rabbits. Rabbits all in black and looking mean.

'Uprising' was the first word to pop into Jinho's head, and he forgot his anger. "Are you armed?"

Lilith blinked rapidly and shook her head. Why would she be armed?

Jinho saw her eyes widen as he twisted the ornate handle of his cane and pulled out the long, sharp, thin blade of a sword from the cane itself, "Now you are." He held the sword to her, and she grabbed it with unsure, golden hands. "Keep your door locked."

He quickly grabbed his top hat and ran down the hall in the direction he came, pounding his fist into the doors of occupied rooms at he went, shouting a warning that they were under attack...

Before he could even reach the door to the room Michael and Nema shared, windows were shattering and Rabbits were pouring in. This had to be the Uprising... "Michael-sama!" Jinho yelled in alarm as several wild men closed in on him. He could only hope that was enough as instinct took over. Reaching for a cane that he no longer had... an elbow into the face of one man, turning, sending a white-gloved fist into the stomach of another once, twice, three times. A third man tried to grab him, but missed as Jinho slipped right through the floor... Pausing, confused, the third man faltered.

He had no way of preparing for white-gloved hands that reached down from the ceiling and had a surprisingly graceful way of gripping onto his head and twisting, snapping his neck.

Jinho wore an unhappy frown and dropped back down through the ceiling, closing the distance to the door and pounding on it. "Michael-sama! Nemaelle!"

xXxXxXx

A pleased, purr-tinged squeal left Nema's pale throat as her Fiery Angel took her to the floor, the chair tumbling over. Funny how the chair seemed to clatter so loudly in their ears, like the pounding of footsteps... Michael's mouth nipped along the rise of her breast, and they excused it all for heated desire. They never liked wasting time... so much of their lives were spent dealing with military and politics and _two_ children, it only made them ache for these moments more. Maybe, if their lives were a little more calm, they'd be more leisurely about this... or maybe it only would have meant more torn dresses and petticoats for Nema to mend. She didn't mind it, not at all... all that the sound of ripping fabric ever did was make her tingle with need. Just like the way Michael pulling her thighs wide open made her tingle... The way he allowed himself only a short moment to rake a possessive gaze down her already-ravaged body, the way he caressed the ink wrapped around her thigh, her own blue dragon that marked her like she was his. The way a devilish smirk played over his features when her hands grabbed at his belt and pulled it open...

They jumped when they heard Jinho pounding on their and yelling out their names. "Are you fucking _kidding me?_" Michael hissed.

He'd had more words prepared, but several shadows and the sudden smashing of their windows knocked them right out of his frustrated head. Michael was on his feet in a flash, pulling Nema up along with him as she immediately slipped her treasured Angel Crystal earring out of her ear, the crystal shifting into the katana she always used.

"Look what we have here..." A surly and tough I-Child sneered. "We've caught Her Highness whoring herself out...!"

The warning lick of flames shot only an inch past the group that had crashed into their room, straight from the hand of the War Angel as they stood there, hair mussed, some of the seams on Nema's dress torn, Michael's belt undone. "Wanna repeat that?" He sneered right back.

Their initial bravado was already shaken... and despite herself, Nema frowned and muttered to her Angel, "Go get the others. I've got this."

Even as still more bodies slipped in through their ruined window, Michael knew she was right. There were very few things Nema couldn't handle... Even so, he made sure to take hold of her arm and hiss out a quick, angry whisper before he left, "They don't deserve your mercy."

Michael was sure that was the truth. He'd _been_ sure that was the truth. Some people these were... She won their freedom, their right to fucking _live_, before she'd even reached age _eighteen_. There was nothing that said she needed to do that for them. She could have waited in Hades for him and then _he_ could've done all the damn work for her because she deserved it. But no, she took it upon herself, and she succeeded... and this was the gratitude they gave her for it? Michael had no idea how she'd managed to spend these years trying to talk things out with these fucking people. If it were him, he would've lashed out a long time ago...

When Michael grabbed his enormous and deadly sword, throwing open the door, he was shocked to see that there were several bodies already littering the hallway. All black-clad Rabbits... most of them knocked unconscious, but some killed, necks purpling already from being twisted and broken. He couldn't think of anyone who would be fighting like this, all bare-handed, as he followed the bodies like a trail of bruising bread crumbs. Setsuna, maybe...

Jesus Christ, Setsuna was with his fucking kids...

The Fire Angel ran along the trail of bodies with a fresh sense of urgency. "Setsuna! Where the fuck are you?"

But the Messiah never heard him yelling out his name... instead, Michael saw a pair of arms slip through a wall, grabbing an I-Child by the shoulders and pulling him back against the wall with a rough jerk that made him dizzy. He was unable to fight the gloved hands that grabbed onto his head and delivered the fatal twist, the snap of his neck. Jinho stepped back through the wall wearing a deep frown, and his ink-black eyes turned over to the Fire Angel.

The tip of Michael's broad Fire Sword hit the floor with a thud. "... I didn't know you were a man, Jinho!" A rough ripple of laughter rumbled in his throat.

The humor was lost on the Gehenna Vampire. He didn't _want_ to do this... but what else could he do? They were being blatantly attacked, and there were children living here...!

The War Angel was already back to business before Jinho could think of a reply to his crude joke. "You find Setsuna?"

"He's guarding your children. Jibril and Raphael are looking for you. Have you seen Ur-"

"That giant bastard'll show up sooner or later." Michael waved it off with his hand. "Go make sure Nema isn't arranging some peace talk; these assholes can't be reasoned with."

"And I need you to see that Lilith is okay." Jinho watched as the Fire Angel's already-green eyes narrowed into unhappy slits, and immediately reasoned with him. "Lilith is hiding alone and has absolutely no fighting experience, Michael-sama..."

"Of _course_ she fucking doesn't." He scoffed and stomped past, "I'll check on the brat."

"I'll see to it that Nema is well," Jinho promised in return, hurrying back to her room.

xXxXxXx

Uriel had realized a little too late that he had left his scythe in Hades. Perhaps he shouldn't have had that last scotch before he packed his things...

Oh, well. The Rabbits who had poured into Serissa's mansion didn't seem interested in him, at all. They were looking for Nema; he'd heard them shouting and could pick out her name through all the garbled syllables.

There was no way they could be this stupid. Attacking a house full of Elementals... Something else had to have been going on. So instead of trying to find the others, Uriel retreated further into the mansion, ducking around corners when he heard approaching voices. Being weaponless certainly didn't make him helpless, but he still didn't want to fight these people. Nema had already explained to him that most of the Rabbits following Azrael were starving in the slums and driven to the point of complete and total desperation.

They didn't deserve death. As annoyed as Uriel was that these invading Rabbits had interrupted his time with his favorite book, he would leave them unharmed.

Only one thing could have changed his mind.

The sound of screaming made him abandon his shadowy corners and charge forward towards the screams. The sound was so high pitched, he knew it could have only been one of three little girls living in that house...

He barrelled around a corner in time to see a pair of Rabbit men, one grabbing a thrashing June and the other struggling to pull a pistol out of Chiyo's hands.

"Let me go! Aaron!"

A boy of twelve was beating the first Rabbit with his fists, yelling and swearing as he tried to free June. Uriel had never met the boy, but he knew it had to have been Serissa's adopted son, Aaron.

"_Hey!_" Uriel's false voice boomed through the hallway and all five of them froze.

"Mind your own business, Earth Angel!" One of the Rabbit men yelled back, wrenching Chiyo's pistol out of her hands. "You don't even have a weapon."

"I don't need one." Uriel said darkly. With a quick wave of his hand, his trusty vines burst from the floor of the mansion and grabbed both Rabbits, yanking them away from the children and binding them, one to the floor, one to the wall. "Are you okay?" He asked the children, hurrying up to them and paying no mind to the immobilized men.

June was sobbing and Aaron wrapped the girl into his arms, staring at Uriel with wide and frightened eyes.

Chiyo answered Uriel, "What's going on?"

"No time to explain. Why are you out of your rooms?"

"Serissa has a panic room. We were headed there." Chiyo explained, her pale face whiter than normal.

"Where is it?" Uriel reached out and scooped June into his arms.

Chiyo grabbed her gun off the floor and took Aaron's hand. "Just down the hall! In the guest bedroom on the left!"

"Stay close behind me, kids."

Uriel hurried down the hallway to the guest bedroom on the left. Two more Rabbits attempted to stop them, and he quickly took care of them with another wave of his hand and a fresh set of roots. He kicked the bedroom door right off its hinges, splintering the wood in his urgency. He ushered the kids inside. "Get inside the panic room, lock it down."

Chiyo took June from Uriel and gazed up at him with bewildered red eyes. "You're not coming in, too?"

"No. I'm going to go help get rid of them."

Uriel didn't leave the room until he saw that all three children were safe behind the bookshelf, barricaded by a steel door that could only be opened from the inside. He slid the bookshelf back into place, and hurried out of the room to find the others.

xXxXxXx

"Care to tell us why you're on vacation while the rest of us are still starving, Your Highness?" The surly I-Child regained her bravery as soon as the Fire Angel left, it seemed.

Nema's ruby eyes narrowed, her lips pursing into an moody frown. "This is no vacation."

"Having sex in a fancy mansion in London sounds _exactly_ like a vacation to me...! Don't you think?" Several voices snarled in agreement. A few stepped closer to the Rabbit Queen, but paused as soon as she lifted her Angel Crystal katana.

Nema stood firmly, her eyes sharp as they passed over every face. "... Go home. All of you. You're in no position to fight me, and I don't want to hurt any of you. So go home."

"And do what? Starve?" Nema's mouth dropped open, but the Rabbit cut her off, mocking her, "'Oh, I'm doing what I can, I'm doing what I can! Be strong!' This _is_ us being strong, dear Queen."

"How many of you are here? A bunch of fumbling angry people against myself and all the Elementals? This is you being _stupid_. I know the difference!"

"You ought to know how far you can get on anger alone!" If the surly Rabbit had any more words to say, they were lost when more members of the Uprising ran through the doorway behind Nema, reaching for her, ready to... to tear her apart, to destroy their Queen... somehow, anyway they could.

Nema felt the pulling of hands grabbing her arms, and frenzied instinct took the reigns. Rabbits that suddenly doubted their actions couldn't move away from the Angel Crystal blade as it cut through them like soft, pale butter. A ragged, unhappy breath of despair left her... God, these weren't people she should be killing, these weren't people she should be killing...!

The surly Rabbit led the ring of Rabbits that suddenly closed in on her, letting out a, "Show her how far anger gets!" like it was their war cry...

How... _why_ had it come to this? Would they really rather have just kept having more and more Revolution battles? More White Wing POWs they couldn't hope to care for? Another Battle at the Fields? Did they want that so badly they'd kill her for forming an olive branch...?

In that moment, Nema's heart felt like it shattered, and she screamed it out... sweeping her sword in a wide arc through the bellies of foes who she didn't _want_ to have as foes. Blood bursting everywhere as she ruptured them all, heads and torsos popping wide open. She shut her eyes against the thick wave of red that splashed all over her, hearing the sick squishing and thumping of limbs and ribcages and organs hitting the floor.

How long had it been since she'd last done this to a living person...? Years. But in that moment she remembered all of this much too clearly. Always screams first, and then the sounds of bodies being blown apart. Then the sounds of remains dropping, and then... nothing. A very disturbing silence, even for her. Her eyes slid back open, and the blood felt heavy on her lashes. She looked down at herself... coated. Literally soaking wet with blood... dripping with it. Every strand of her long hair and every ruffle of her dress and every tip of her little fingers... dribbling with the stuff. Her katana looked more like rubies than Angel Crystal.

"Nemaelle...!"

She half-turned to look at Jinho with shocked, upset, angry... yet oddly unreadable eyes that were every bit as red as the blood that covered her. Surrounded with... parts of people. Limbs and cracked open rib cages and entrails and parts of skulls that looked more like bowls, holding wrinkled gray slabs of brain...

It took a while for Jinho to find the words to speak. He wasn't sure that he'd ever _seen_ her use her power on people in real time, before. It was one thing to say to oneself that a dear friend can make anything she wanted – even people – explode. It was quite another to actually see it... "Nemaelle, are you okay?" Jinho frowned and stepped into the blood-spattered room, but Nema suddenly pushed past him, leaving a handprint of blood just barely seen on his dark coat.

"You better hope to God you find Azrael before _I do_." Nema's voice was a low, threatening hiss as she left Jinho in her bloody room, the high heels of her knee-high boots leaving red prints on the floor of the hall as she ran down it, oblivious to Jinho's cries as they faded in the distance behind her. She knew her friend was only worried. Maybe he should've been... but there wasn't any time for him to offer her comfort. Not when people like _this_ – reckless people who weren't ready to fight like this, but fought anyway; people who she didn't _want_ to fight – were crawling all over the mansion, tearing it apart, trying to hurt all the people she cared for...

_Oh God, her children..._

She became even angrier than before, and she hadn't been sure that was possible. The frightened, frenzied mother in her took over, grabbing the first living, conscious member of the Uprising she saw and smashing him against the railing over a set of stairs, holding him over it. The blade of her katana rested threateningly under his chin. "I know Azrael is here. There's no _way_ any of you reckless idiots would be doing this if _he_ wasn't here!" She spoke louder over the young man's nervous whimpering. "Call him. Now. I want him right here, right _now!_" Blood dripped off Nema's chin and onto the man's cheek as he flailed and struggled to pull out a cell phone, and he let out a despairing cry when it slipped from his sweaty, pale fingers.

"Why don't you fight me, instead?"

Nema's bloodsoaked tendrils of hair left an arc of droplets on the floor as she turned to stare at a woman in a strange, elaborate rabbit mask... A woman Nema had never seen before, and yet she remembered well enough all the rumors of the masked woman Azrael had on his side...

The masked woman's head tilted just slightly. "It says a lot about you, that you kill all these innocents, Rabbit Queen."

Those were just the words needed to make Nema shove the frightened man away from her bloody grip and begin approaching her, her katana brandished and ready...

xXxXxXx

Lilith had tried her best to tie her dark bedsheets in secure knots, hoping this would hold as Jinho's cane sword quivered in her unsure hands. She leaned against her vanity, staring at her locked door as she heard the sounds of a wild scuffle. Yelling... crying... thumping... What was going _on_ out there?

Very rarely did Lilith ever really enjoy talking with the Shinryu, but now, more than ever, she wanted them with her. She wasn't even sure why. They weren't of this world; they couldn't have done a single thing to project her... But she really needed them with her, right now. Something familiar in the midst of all this madness going on just outside her door...

Her pupils narrowed into cat-eyed slits when the doorknob to her room began twisting, jiggling, fighting against the lock. The cane blade shook even more badly in her golden hands... Was she even _holding_ the thing correctly?

She felt stupid, sending up a prayer to the Shinryu, but in that moment, she really needed it. She wanted this to be _over_. She wanted to find her potions and go back to Gehenna and not have anything to _do_ with this horrible shit! Things had gone from horrible to outright _frightening_ and she hadn't been aware things would happen this way...!

Her door burst open with a mighty kick, and a gasp tore out of her throat. Shaky as she was, she pointed the cane blade right at the man who'd broken in, a Rabbit with empty, cold garnet eyes. "Stay the fuck away from me." She snarled, her lips pulled back in a sneer.

Her attempt to be threatening was unsuccessful. "Of course, they locked away their treasure. Their little oracle." Azrael stepped further into the room. "Well... not anymore, it seems."

Lilith could see the blade shivering as if it were cold, but she kept it pointed, anyway. "If you take one step closer I will fucking _kill you!_"

A low, bemused chuckle left him. "It's strange that they've locked you up when you can't even see or hear those pesky lizards your people love so much. What is it they still see in you?"

The former Dragonmaster didn't answer, trying hard to steel herself. This man was cold and calm and that only made her even more sure that he knew he could kill her.

And then he confirmed it. "No matter... You'll be dead soon enough, and we won't have to worry about you and your potions and your lizards ever again."

"_One step...!_" She warned him, hating the way her voice quivered. She could do this, couldn't she...? She _had_ to do this...!

A corner of Azrael's mouth lifted as he took another step forward. "One."

He was teasing her, but it set the Evil off in a way that was foreign to her. She didn't even know what she was doing... Running. Swiping at him with this long, thin blade. Jabbing when he dodged her... Another bemused chuckle left his lips, even as she finally managed to brush the tip of the cane blade against his cheek and leave an angry, red line.

She understood his laughter as soon as she hit the floor. He'd stepped on the long train of her bedsheet dress and let her take care of the rest. How could she be so horrible at this...?

Before Lilith could roll onto her back, Azrael had one boot firmly planted on the hand that held the thin sword. "I don't think so, Dragonmaster..." She cried out when he pulled her head back by her pale blonde hair, and found herself whimpering when she felt the blade of a long knife against her throat. So much for being brave... "If you have any last words or requests, now is the time for them."

"Fuck that!"

The next thing Lilith saw was shades of red and orange and gold, the blade at her throat gone and the man who wielded it scrambling away from the arc of fire that followed hot on his heels.

"Pretty shitty, picking off idiots who can't wield swords to save their lives. Idiots who _literally_ can't!" Michael scoffed.

Empty, dark red eyes seemed chilling against the angry green of Michael's own. "That's rich, coming from a former Rabbit Hunter."

The War Angel sent another quick burst of flame in Azrael's direction, sending him right out of Lilith's room. "It's funny; I thought you were gunning to pick off my wife, Azrael! But I guess you're blind if you think Nema's some busty tan chick with cat eyes!" He scoffed. "'Course he ran off..." He dropped to a crouch, the tip of his giant sword stabbed into the ground. "Hey." He started snapping his fingers in front of the former Dragonmaster's eyes.

Lilith was wide-eyed and taking short, quick breaths. Only seconds ago she'd been close enough to taste death...

"Fuck... Hey!" Michael's hand delivered a sharp slap to her golden cheek. "You okay?"

"I..." Lilith just... stared at the violent, Fiery Angel and his moody eyes and the blue dragon on his face and wondered what had even compelled him to go into her room, after everything that had happened... "I..."

"Kid, I don't have _time _for this!" Michael grabbed her roughly by her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Are. You. Okay?"

Lilith had to blink twice and take three more breaths before she could finally answer him. "I... yeah... yeah, I am..."

She sounded incredibly disoriented, but at least she was responding, now... "Good." He hauled her to her feet and immediately pointed to the newcomer in Lilith's room. "You take her, I've got a man I need to beat the living shit out of!"

Lilith found herself being tossed away from the arms of the Fire Angel and into the arms of the Gehenna Vampire. Even when he was worried, his voice flowed smoothly. "She is unharmed?"

"She's _fine_."

"Michael-sama-" But he'd already left. Jinho sighed and immediately scooped the adult Lilith into his arms, setting her down on her messy bed. "Lilith..."

The more she realized that she was staring up at ink-black eyes, the more she struggled to cover herself with more blankets.

Jinho frowned and walked over to his cane sword, and it was only then when Lilith began speaking again.

"Your sword..."

"I have it. I have it right here. See?" Jinho's voice was nothing but gentleness despite the situation, showing her the blade.

She stared at the gleaming metal with a frown. "Your cane is... a sword."

Yes, the girl was definitely out of sorts... between losing her potions and reverting to her true, adult form and nearly being murdered, the rowdy former Dragonmaster had been through too much, today. But Jinho welcomed the conversation, even as he stood near the foot of her bed, staring at the open doorway. "There is much to be cautious of, in Sheol. It's important to carry a weapon at all times."

"Then you've... used it, before."

Jinho didn't answer her.

Lilith sat up and gripped onto one of the Dragonmaster earrings dripping from her earlobes, fruitless as that action was. "Am I the only one here who _hasn't_ killed someone?"

"It is something to be proud of." The Vampire insisted. "No one should be forced into a position that makes them take a life. Especially the Dragonmaster."

"I'm not the Dragonmaster, anymore." Lilith grumbled, and Jinho didn't reply, once again. "... How bad is it, out there?"

His shoulders tensed, just barely. "There is a lot of... cleaning up, to do."

"Over me...?"

Jinho blinked wide black eyes at her, and she blinked, in return. "This is an attack initiated by the Uprising, Lilith. It doesn't involve-"

"It _does!_ The man who nearly killed me said they wouldn't have to worry about _me! _Fuck, I _wish_ this wasn't about me, but...!" Lilith felt herself getting her bearings back, though it meant little more than anger and swearing.

"They said that." Jinho's voice became a silky kind of whisper.

"Yes. I don't know _why_ they care, but that's what the man said. That if he offed me, they wouldn't have to worry about me or my so-called lizards anymore!"

Jinho frowned as she gave him a troubled sort of glare. The Uprising wanted Lilith gone...? But why would they-

They realized it simultaneously, spoke in unison. "The Prophecy..."

"Nema must be told immediately."

"But how the Hell would these angry Rabbits destroy all three worlds?" Lilith grumbled with narrowed eyes.

The dark waves of hair pulled into a tail at the nape of his neck, only slightly frizzy from his fighting, swayed across his upper back as he shook his head. "I don't know, but I'd rather not take my chances-"

Lilith's eyes shifted just over his shoulder and widened, and that was all the cue Jinho needed, after seeing and doing all that he'd seen and done since this attack had started. He wasted no time in spinning to face the newcomers – three of them, slightly bloodied members of the Uprising – and slashing the shirt covering the nearest one right open with a surprisingly graceful, easy flip of his wrist.

How was it that when that cane sword had been in her possession, it had felt clumsy and wobbly and ineffective, but in his, the sword became a deadly natural extension of his arm? She watched as the three Rabbits stumbled away from the Gehenna Vampire, getting their bearings before rushing in on him... but he slipped right through the floor, and they stumbled to a halt all over again. White gloves rose up from the floor and closed around one man's ankles, pulling him down to join him... There were screams in the room below them, and then silence.

The two remaining men looked at each other. "... Fuck, kill this fucking Evil _now!_" One hissed and pounced, and an unarmed Lilith mentally scrambled, grabbing her bedside lamp and throwing it at him. The assaulted man dropped and slipped off the foot of her bed, but there was one left...

This time, Jinho dropped down through her ceiling, silent and graceful like Vampires were often rumored to be... drops of blood dotting his white cravat and the side of his face. He didn't even speak, which only made him that much more frightening in a way that was nothing like all these Uprising members or Michael or any other person who was here and fighting. He merely moved swiftly after the man who ran back out of Lilith's room, reaching right through the wall, pulling the man back in by the back of his sweater and then pinning him to the paint and plaster, the thin, bloody blade piercing right through the man's back.

Lilith watched with wide eyes as Jinho left the man there, as the life drained out of the Rabbit's eyes. "I'm sorry..." His voice was as smooth as his murderous actions, but tinged in sorrow.

Lilith didn't even know how to respond. "... For... what?"

Jinho's mouth opened and closed, unsure of what to say. So, so unlike him... but he'd been having moments like these ever since he'd come here.

He walked over the pinned man and unpinned him with a graceful flip of his wrist, the body crumpling to the floor. "Hopefully this will be over, soon..."

xXxXxXx

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you." Nema's grip on her bloody sword wobbled in rage as she stared at the woman before her. The mask she wore was an eerie thing. A mask that looked like a stylized white rabbit's face with red markings. Nema couldn't see any of the woman's skin, only the pale flesh that surrounded her cold and penetrating eyes through the eyeholes in the mask. Her body was wrapped entirely in black fabric; even her hands were covered by gloves. White dreadlocks protruded from the back of her mask and cascaded to her waist, making the woman's only identifying feature.

Nema couldn't truly see hardly any of this strange new enemy... Edgy and uneasy, her red eyes quickly looked over the masked woman's body. Two weapons... a tomahawk and some intricately designed long knife. Not in her hands. Simply hanging from her belt... She stood with a calm and relaxed posture, like she didn't even notice, or care, that Nema was covered in blood and brandishing her sword.

"Do you really think you can hurt me?" The woman said, opening her arms in invitation. "Go ahead. Try. Get it out of your system, Rabbit Queen."

Her calm, mocking tone made an unhappy scowl pull on Nema's lips, and her left boot itched to take a step forward... No. No, she wouldn't take the bait... But perhaps she could frighten the woman. Knock her down a peg or two. Ruby eyes became thin slits as Nema concentrated her power onto the woman's chest. Not too much... just enough pressure to show this masked woman that she meant business, that she didn't have the time for these horrible, bloody games.

Seconds lengthened into a strange and eerie silence. The masked woman stood there, staring calmly and evenly at Nema.

Nema's lips parted, a few quiet and frustrated words dancing on her tongue, but not quite leaving. She wasn't even flinching, not even tensing in the pain she surely had to have felt... The brandished blade of Nema's crystal katana dropped just slightly, and she tried harder, amplifying her power enough to surely rupture her from the inside out...

… And still. Nothing.

Nema took two quick steps backwards, staring at her with wide and surprised eyes. "... How?"

"Ah, now you get it, don't you?

"Who are you?" Her voice quaked in bewildered aggression.

"I am called many things. Monster. Freedom Fighter. Savior... Today, I will be known as the one who ends your life," She slowly removed her tomahawk and knife from her belt. "But between now and then, you may call me Celestiel."

Celestiel stepped closer and Nema felt a sudden and unexplainable swell of panic. Before she could even think to steel herself, the high heel of one boot tapped backwards.

"You look scared, Nema. Good. Now you know what all your victims have felt in your presence. Fear. Helplessness. The crippling weight of knowing you can't do a thing to stop death."

Nema scowled, swallowing the fear, allowing only anger to seep into her words. "What, do you think I can't handle a sword? I don't need my powers to beat you."

Celestiel chuckled, "You just keep telling yourself that. It's better to die with hope than with none."

When Celestiel struck for the first time, Nema was staggered by the sheer power in her blow. She raised her katana to block Celestiel's tomahawk from hacking into her neck, and her sword vibrated so hard, it made Nema's bones cry out in pain. A strange feeling that she only felt when sparring with her Fiery Angel, never with anyone else... until now. A warmth burned in her side, and suddenly Celestiel was gone, vanished in the blink of an eye. The sharp warmth spread, and Nema looked down to see blood blossoming over her white corset, spreading around a slash in her side.

The Rabbit Queen's red eyes grew wide in her stunned face. How... _how_ did she...? Nema hadn't even seen her _move!_ She pressed a pale, blood-smeared hand to her wound. It was shallow, superficial. "You don't seem like the type to toy with your victims." Nema said darkly, all of her senses straining to stay acutely aware of this woman...

"Maybe I want to hear you beg for mercy."

Celestiel's voice was warm and murmuring Nema's ear, like a lover's whisper. The closeness of the sound made Nema's blood run cold and sent every nerve screaming with the need to attack, to preserve herself. An angry yell tore from her throat, and she slashed blindly with her katana, arching the blow behind her with a wide wild shot.

Celestiel bent back and the blade nicked one of her pearly white dreadlocks, sending a few pale hairs up into the tense air. She spun away, unharmed.

As apprehensive as Nema was, as much as fear kept beating on the back of her head screaming warnings, she ignored it. She had to do something about this woman, this Celestiel. Another yell came out of her like a warcry, and she charged forward on her knee-high boots. Her bloody, torn, ruffled skirt billowed behind her as she leapt recklessly at Celestiel with all the ferocity of a desperate and raging lion, her Angel Crystal katana blood-drenched and glinting in the light as it slashed at her enemy...

But the curved blade of Celestiel's tomahawk caught her blade and forced it away. Nema took a leap backward at the last moment, as the masked woman's long knife caught and tore at more of Nema's blood-stained corset, kissing her snowy pale skin just slightly, baring one of the steel bones that gave her torso a firm embrace. She didn't allow herself to be a sitting duck, immediately running in a wide arc and thinking hard. Quickly shuffling through years of sparring with Michael, battles fought during the Revolution. God, it'd been so long since she'd felt the need to think that far back... but she had to, now.

It was then that she realized that she'd never gone up against a person wielding dual weapons. Not like these ones... No matter how many blows she dealt, Celestiel somehow managed to turn her offensive blows into defensive ones. Torn between frustration urging her to be reckless, and fear warning her to be careful, Nema would close in only to quickly leap away all over again. Nema lost track of how many times Celestiel's blade only nicked her flesh. How many times Celestiel had a chance to land a killing blow, but didn't. She had to concede that she was in trouble... overwhelmed and outmatched by this woman who didn't even seem like a Rabbit.

She was far too strong to just be an ordinary I-Child.

Another angry scream ripped out of Nema's throat as she tried again to run Celestiel through with her katana, a reckless jab right for the masked woman's stomach. Celestiel tucked her tomahawk into her belt, forced the blade aside with her knife and caught Nema once, twice, three times in the face with the hard edge of her elbow. Dazed, she felt blood flow from her broken nose, her mind reeling from the hard blows to her head.

It had been literally _years_ since anyone had been able to land a blow like this, right to her face... Nema could hardly see, her hazy vision doubled. She tried to push through the pain, to clear her head as she swung her sword, once more. The action came out sluggish. Celestiel caught the blade in her gloved hand, her blood dribbling down the sharp edges of the katana.

"Enough, Nema. You are beaten. It's time to let go."

God, she hadn't even gotten a very great hit on her, yet... as if minor scratches and a frayed dreadlock even counted as damage? Not to Nema. "Never..."

"Very well."

Nema felt her katana grow hot under hands and suddenly... it was gone. Her fingers feebly grasped at air, and bewildered, bleary ruby eyes tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"Death really isn't so bad." Celestiel shoved Nema so hard against the wall, the plaster cracked and caved. "Now... any last words?"

The Rabbit Queen was weaponless, powerless and dazed. Even now the need to destroy this woman made her body shake. If only she could... she would have killed this woman. Ruptured the very core of her body so slowly it would look like she were being peeled open. Cut her head off with her Angel Crystal blade... beat a crater into her head with her own fists... something. Anything.

She hated to admit it, and yet she knew she had to, as her body sank into the ruined wall at her back... This woman, Celestiel, had bested her. She steeled herself, even as her vision blurred between each blink. She said the only thing she could think of. "My children..."

"What about them?" Celestiel said coldly.

"Don't hurt them." Nema took a breath in through her broken, bleeding nose, hearing a soft an uncomfortable hiss as she did. She wasn't even sure if Celestiel would uphold her request... No matter. She took another breath and willed herself to look into the holes of Celestiel's mask, into the cold voids, there. "Please... Kill me, if you have to. But don't... don't hurt my children."

And suddenly, Celestiel hesitated. One hand gripped Nema's throat and the other positioned her knife over her stomach and... she hesitated. Like...

She couldn't do it.

"_Nema!_"

Celestiel jerked and yanked Nema away from the wall, pinning her against her chest with an arm around her shoulders, pointing the knife straight at Nema's throat.

Michael let out a strangled yell of rage upon seeing his wife, battered, face bruised and bleeding, wounded and weaponless, and in the clutches of the enemy. How... How had she even ended _up_ in this bitch's arms? He'd ask later. He'd ask after he'd burned this woman _alive! _Eyes blazing green, he screamed at Celestiel. "Let her go! Let her go _now!_"

"Or what, Fire Angel?" Celestiel hissed. "You'll set me on fire? Careful. I'd hate for your pretty wife to get caught in the crossfire, wouldn't you?"

A wild roar left Michael's throat, fire flaring about his clenched, shaking fists."You fucking _bitch_; I'll kill you!"

Azrael rushed up behind Celestiel. "Do it! Kill her now, Celestiel!"

"All in good time, oh Impatient One." Celestiel murmured, eyes fixed on Michael. She felt something tugging at the ankles of her boots. She broke eye contact with the Fire Angel only to look down, watching thick green vines tangling around her feet. "Ah."

"Let her go." The Angel of Earth stepped up behind the angry Michael, glaring calmly at Celestiel. "Let her go now, and you will be treated fairly."

"Oh, I doubt that, very much."

Uriel's jaw dropped in horror as the vines he summoned to trap her legs suddenly withered and died. They broke apart when Celestiel stepped back, dragging Nema along with her.

"The Dragonmaster?"

"Alive, unfortunately." Azrael said angrily.

"No matter. She's useless, by this point. That only leaves one loose end to tie up." Celestiel tucked her knife away again. "Listen to me, my little Rabbit Queen. This will not be the last time you see me... that I can promise." Still holding Nema tightly against her chest, Celestiel placed one hand over Nema's forehead, and the other over her heart.

Nema's eyes suddenly shot wide and horrified, and she screamed. Her body tensed and quivered uselessly as she cried out, feeling like someone, or something, was thrashing inside of her, hurting her, tearing her apart from the inside out. Every inch of her, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes... God, even when the terrible Angel Cheriour had cut off her wings, years ago... even _that_ could not compare to this!

Michael snarled and ran forward, only to be pulled back by Uriel. They looked on in total helplessness as Celestiel's gloved hands glowed with a subtle red light.

Almost as soon as it began, Celestiel released Nema and she collapsed in a horrible heap at the masked woman's feet. Nema gasped and cried and cradled her stomach, crippled by searing pain that continued on in agonizing, sharp waves.

"I have taken the only thing that makes you special, Rabbit Queen." Celestiel dropped Nema's crystal earring onto the floor and it bounced harmlessly away, no longer the sword it had been minutes before. "When we do meet again... stay out of my way."

"What have you _done?_" Michael roared, his eyes wide and angry, blue-green and conflicted with the need to pull his battered wife to safety, the need to tear this masked woman into pieces.

"I have taken away her powers. She is no longer an Aion. She will no longer use her abilities to hurt or intimidate anyone, ever again."

"That wasn't the plan, Celestiel!" Azrael said, frowning.

"I know. Call the retreat. We're done here."

The need to save his wife won out over violence, one of the only things that _could _trump the need to destroy his enemies. Michael rushed to her side, fighting to calm himself enough to make the flickering little flames die between his fingers. Broad white wings stretched from his back and immediately formed a shell over her, protecting her far too late. "Nema." Aggression made his voice rough and grating, and his hands shook against Nema's snowy-pale shoulder blades...

No. No, the shaking was all Nema's own, so violent it made his hold on her slip. "... Nema, what-" Michael started over again, this time apprehensive, and he was right to be. The disgraced Rabbit Queen heaved once, twice, and the third time, a thick stream of blood poured from her mouth and splattered all over the floor.

The Fire Angel didn't waste another second. "Raphael!" He looked over his shoulder to see his fellow Elemental running toward him, but worry kept pushing his name out of his mouth. "Raphael, hurry! Now! _Now! Raphael!_"

All Uriel had to do was blink, and Celestiel and Azrael were gone, taking the rest of the Rabbits with them...


	8. Chapter 7

**Layers**

_Chapter Seven_

By: Brenli and Jael

Azrael watched with a look of growing annoyance as Celestiel removed her rabbit mask. "I thought we were in this together, Celestiel."

"What are you talking about?"

"What happened back there? The plan was to kill Nema, not cripple her."

"I improvised." Celestiel said shortly, tossing her mask into her black duffel bag.

"Improvised." Azrael angrily repeated the word, his hands curling into fists. His body shook with carefully restrained rage. "Improvised? To what point and purpose, I have to ask! You could have ruined everything!"

"Silly, stupid Azrael, I haven't ruined anything. You wanted Nemaelle neutralized because of her power. I neutralized her. I don't see the problem." Celestiel planted hands on her black clad hips and glared at Azrael, silently daring him to press the matter further.

And he did. "Whatever you did to her will be _temporary_, you know that! And she's going to be coming for us again!"

"She won't have a chance to redevelop them. By then, it will be too late." Celestiel bristled. "You say we're in this together, but I've told you from the beginning that I want to do this with as little casualties as possible. If you had done what _you _were supposed to do, nobody would have died today. And look how many of our own we had to leave behind, today! Dead!"

"I told you that I'm having trouble controlling them. I told them to wait and they invaded the mansion anyway!"

Celestiel chewed her lip and turned away from Azrael, trying not to let her fury get the best of her. "Look, I know what I did wasn't what you had in mind. But think about it: if I had killed her, Raphael would have just brought her back."

Azrael faltered and his red eyes widened slightly. "But... resurrection takes so much out of him...!"

"Do you really think he would let the man he loves as a brother suffer because he wasn't willing to risk a potential coma, again? Be realistic, Azrael. What I did was best."

"But I wish you had just told me-"

"I'm not your wife, Azrael!" Celestiel cut him off, snapped at him. "You don't need to know everything that I'm thinking or doing!"

Azrael's jaw fell open as he stared at the cold woman in front of him.

Immediately, Celestiel softened and took his hands, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his. She knew she could say horrible things when she was angry... but bringing up his dead wife? That was too much. Even for her. "I'm sorry, my friend... I shouldn't have said that."

Azrael took a slow, deep breath in through his nose. "It's all right." He tilted his head and leaned closer, hoping to capture her lips with his.

"Not tonight." She muttered, reaching up to cradle his face. "Look at me." When Azrael turned his tired red eyes to her, she brushed her thumbs over his cheeks. "The Hydra is nearly complete. This will all be over soon... I promise." She pulled away from him before his arms could trap her body against his. "I have to go. I'll contact you soon."

xXxXxXx

"Serissa is going to be furious when she gets home," Jinho muttered, white gloved hands dragging another corpse into the pile they had started in the backyard.

"I wish I knew how to contact her," Uriel said, mopping off his hands with a dirty rag. "She didn't leave her phone number, and the kids are still locked in the Panic Room."

"Still?"

"I imagine they'll stay put until she comes home. They were pretty shaken up." Uriel fixed the cuff of his shirt, rolling it back up to his elbow. "How's Nema?"

"Resting. Raphael managed to get to her in time..." The soft silk of the Gehenna Vampire's voice seemed tired as he spoke, tucking a stray lock of dark hair that had escaped his hair tie back behind his ear. "He seemed... a bit alarmed. He said that her internal organs were... practically mush. She was just barely keeping alive." A frown, however charming, curled on his lips. "He said that she will feel quite unwell for a while, but she'll recuperate just fine... that she will be on bedrest, in the meantime."

Uriel nodded grimly.

"Where are they?"

Uriel and Jinho turned their attention from their pile of bodies, to see Serissa standing at her back door, hands on the jambs... her face pale as a sheet.

"Serissa...!" Uriel took two steps towards her, reaching out a hand, horrified at the look on her face.

"Where are my kids?" She shrieked, her voice cracking.

"Panic Room...!" Uriel said, and Serissa was gone in the blink of an eye. He hurried after her, chasing her up the stairs, his long legs taking two steps at a time. "Serissa, they're all right!" He spoke to her, even though he knew his words were falling on panicking, deaf ears. He couldn't even imagine what the poor woman was going through. Returning to find her home destroyed, blood splattered, bodies piled in her backyard and her children nowhere to be found.

She stumbled over the door Uriel had kicked off it's hinges and hurled herself against the bookcase blocking the entrance to the panic room. She wrestled it out of the way, tipping it over in her haste. It crashed to the floor, scattering books, and Uriel stood helplessly in the doorway. Serissa pounded her fist on the steel door.

"Chiyo? Aaron? Guys, it's me! Open the door...!"

A second later, the door hissed and slid open. Three sobbing children threw themselves at Serissa, and she managed to catch all three of them in her arms, sinking to the floor with relief and emotion.

Uriel watched in a heart-stricken silence as the kids cried and told their stories in a sobbing mess of words and tears. He watched as Serissa comforted each of them, brushing her hands through their hair and murmuring words of soft comfort and praise. After what felt like ages, each of the children had calmed into soft, hiccuping silence.

"He helped us." Chiyo muttered, her red eyes staring at Uriel.

"Who did, baby?" Serissa said.

"Him." She nodded at Uriel, and when Serissa turned her surprised eyes to him, he could only manage a lame, crooked smile and a shrug of his shoulders.

A look of pure gratitude crossed over Serissa's features, and Uriel felt uncomfortable at the sight of such raw emotion.

"Hey, guys." Serissa said, gently pulling herself away from her kids to look at all of their tear-streaked faces. "I want you to do me a favor, okay? I want you all to go to Chiyo's room, lock the door, and play some video games for a while. I have some things I have to take care of... I'll come check on you in a little while, okay?"

The three children nodded in miserable unison and filed out of the spare bedroom, stepping around scattered books as they muttered sincere thank-you's to the Earth Angel standing in the doorway.

"Is it true?"

Serissa's sudden closeness made Uriel jump. "Yes." He said quietly. "Some of the men here were trying to take Chiyo. I helped them get to the Panic Room."

Uriel had expected words. Even a 'thank you' from her lips would have meant the world to him, just because of the look of sincere gratefulness in her lovely eyes. But suddenly, Serissa reached out to take his wrist, and she pulled him closer. She stood on the tips of her toes to wrap her arms around his neck, sealing him in a warm and wonderful embrace.

It wasn't the first time Uriel had felt a female body so close to his own, but never before had such gratitude and emotion poured out of her and into him. It bewildered and broke him in ways he didn't know he could be broken. His throat dried up and his hands hovered awkwardly around her. He stooped slightly, as he was taller than her by at least a full head.

"Thank you..." She murmured, and her words tickled his ear.

Uriel's breath left his chest in a heavy rush and finally his arms settled around her, pulling her close. His hands brushed through the hair that swept over her back, hair that smelled of some soft floral shampoo, hair that felt soft as silk against his face. Until that moment, Uriel had no idea just how starved he had been for this kind of contact. A simple hug. A hug that demanded nothing more than his arms around her.

"You're welcome." He sighed into her hair, his arms tightening like a vice around her body.

Serissa hadn't even known what had come over her when she pulled him to her, like that. She certainly wasn't expecting this kind of reaction. She wasn't expecting him to melt into her arms, like a simple embrace was the most glorious thing in the world to him.

She felt her heart tear a little. Especially as she realized how badly she needed this kind of closeness, as well. Not just from any body, but a body willing to offer the chaste comfort and strength she suddenly found when wrapped up in his strong arms.

Uriel realized he had the irrational urge to keep her against him forever, but his iron hold on her only melted when he felt her relax.

"We should find the others." When she spoke into his ear again, a shiver shot up Uriel's spine.

"You're right." He let her go, and a coldness he didn't like seeped into the marrow of his bones. "Come on..."

She followed closely beside him, but neither of them said a word. They couldn't even look at each other.

xXxXxXx

"Hey."

The man whimpered as he was pulled back into consciousness, the chill of cold water dumped unceremoniously over his head.

"You don't get to pass out until I _say _you can."

His eyes were almost swollen shut, but he tried hard to open them, to plead with them, even as hopeless as that was. "I've... I've told you everyth-"

The texture of leather smashed against his face once, twice, three times, the fist encased in the fabric causing the bones of this man's face to crunch under the force of it. "No. You. Haven't!" Each word was a blow in itself, and the man just... cried. This was not what he signed up for. Not at all...

"You're not allowed to play the idiot card, here. You come down here and punch holes into this house and you send some masked fucking _bitch _to take my _wife _and...!" Michael couldn't finish the sentence. He didn't want to, even if Raphael had gotten to her, even if Raphael had restored her... mostly. Mostly restored her. But mostly was not nearly enough, and the War Angel took it out on this leftover scrap left behind from the attack, delivered by Jinho. Michael just... hit him. Over and over... Yelling, ordering this man to tell him something. _Anything _that they hadn't already known. Anything about that masked woman, Celestiel.

Black wings suddenly sprouted from the man's back as he struggled in the ropes he'd been bound with, wrapping in front of him, shielding his battered face... But he regretted ever having wings as soon as Michael released him, circled behind him, took hold of them... and planted one boot between his shoulders blades, pressing down. A cry even louder than all the previous ones spread through the ruined mansion.

"If you can scream, you can talk!" The Fire Angel raised his boot, only to stomp down and snarl over the man's wailing, "Who is this Celestiel? _Tell me!"_

"I don't knooow...!" The man sobbed, despite the pain spreading through his back, deep in his chest. "Nobody knows but Azrael! I swear!"

"Not good enough!" Michael gripped one wing and began twisting. "I'm going to pop it right out of it's fucking _socket _if you don't talk!"

"But I've told you _everything!" _The man still insisted, desperation igniting into anger as he yelled back. "No one knows what her deal is! Azrael brought her in to help our cause!"

"_Your cause." _Michael's voice was a cruel hiss. "Here's what I think about your cause!" Bone crunched under his hand, dark feathers bent and frayed. The tortured man's scream only seemed to blur with all the others Michael had heard while he'd tried to beat information out of him...

And then he heard laughter.

The man was a sniveling, pained, bewildered... angry wreck. "Okay...!"

"Okay!" The War Angel released his wings, one crooked and useless, and stepped back around to face his captured Uprising member. His arms crossed over his chest, and he waited...

"Azrael... spoke of what Celestiel would do to the worthless Rabbit Queen...!" The man's mouth was full of blood and quaking with hopeless laughs. "You think your whore went through pain? That was nothing! If we had our way, we would have crushed her, torn her to pieces and taken pictures! And then everyone would know that the whore of Heaven is _nothing!"_

If the man had meant to say more, it was lost in the blood swishing and dribbling out of his mouth, as Michael let out a wild roar and began hitting his bruised, swelling face all over again. An uncomfortable squishing sound began... he kept on hitting. He told himself to stop, that the man wouldn't be able to speak if he kept this up, and yet he couldn't quell the rage well enough to put an end to the beating...

"What the fuck are you _doing?" _An angry voice shouted loud enough to reach the raging Angel of War. He took two quick steps back, a satisfied smile twisting his face.

"Michael-" Uriel approached Michael, keeping an arm out to stop Serissa from charging forward. All three of them froze when the prisoner began to laugh again, broken, breathy laughter.

"You're all such fools," he muttered, blood oozing from his swollen lips. "She's going to kill all of you. Celestiel..."

Michael snorted. "Not if I kill her, first."

"You've seen it with your own eyes, and you still refuse to believe...?" He laughed again, coughing and sputtering. "She's... a force of nature. She is... _God." _His head lolled back and he turned one glazed eye to the ceiling, the other swollen fully shut. "Finally... God is on our side. And she is beautiful..." A single tear oozed from his eye and mingled with the blood on his face. "And she finally cares..."

Uriel had been so shocked by this man's bold and heartbreaking claims, that he didn't notice Serissa had approached him until it was too late. He bristled when Serissa gently brushed a piece of sticky white hair off of his forehead.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Michael hissed, his blood-smeared fists clenching tightly.

Serissa ignored him and bent down to whisper something in the tortured Rabbit's ear... something that made the man smile and relax against his bonds. A moment later, both Uriel and Michael lurched forward with collective cries on their tongues. Serissa lifted a pistol to his temple and pulled the trigger, ending his torment with a single bullet.

The Fiery Angel's livid green eyes were wide and mean. "... What the _fuck_ have you done? I wasn't finished with him!" Oh, he had been far from finished with him...!

But Serissa only give him an even, cold stare. "Looks like you are, now."

"_Five_ more minutes with that worthless piece of shit and I would have broken him! He would have told me everything!" Michael insisted, sneering, crossing the room to stop only one pace away from her, quivering with all the anger he could no longer unleash.

"Broken him? _Broken_ him!" Serissa found herself yelling back, standing firm in front of the wild Angel who glared at her. "You've already broken every fucking bone in his _face!_" She found herself pacing, a tight scowl on her lips. "Have you lost your fucking _mind? _Torturing a man like that? My _children_ are in this house...!" She halted, pointed a shaky finger at him. "_Your_ children are in this house! What kind of father are you?"

Michael had stood firm the entire time, angry eyes following her, but it wasn't until she'd asked her last question that he exploded in loud yells, swatting her pointing hand away from him. "I'm an _angry_ fucking father, that's what I am! You see your kids here _watching_ me? Because I sure fucking don't!"

Serissa's eyes narrowed into unhappy slits. "Oh, and that's supposed to make it all better, you twisted little _imp?_" She snapped sarcastically. "Like beating him to _death_ is going to change what happened to your wife? You're an _idiot!_"

The both of them stepped back when a pair of mocha-skinned hands gently pushed them apart. He knew Michael well enough – and could tell from the level of Serissa's anger – that his efforts would amount to little, and yet he tried, anyway. He reasoned with them, "Maybe you should both just calm down..."

"_Shut up, Uriel!_" The cry had shot out of both of their mouths, piercing the Earth Angel and striking him into silence. Yes... he knew his attempt at peace wouldn't mean much.

Michael reached out and pulled Uriel out of the way, allowing his green-eyed glare to sear Serissa all over again. "That piece of _shit_ deserved much worse than what I did to him. Doesn't change what the fucking masked bitch did to Nema, no, but he _deserved _it!"

Uriel sighed heavily, pressing his hand to his forehead. Michael was right back to yelling... why, exactly, did he try to mediate, again?

"_Nobody_ deserves to suffer!" Serissa screamed, her voice straining over the rumbling of the Fire Angel's. "And as long as you are under _my_ roof, you're going to abide by that rule! Do I make myself in _any way_ unclear?" She pointed an angry finger at a broken window, as if she would banish him right out through the broken glass, if she could. "Take your torture sessions elsewhere, or so help me, you're out of here! Judas be damned, I'll endure whatever shit he throws at me! But you're _gone!_ Get it?"

"_Fine!_" Michael bellowed back. "I have no problem taking one of those stupid clowns all the way back up to Heaven and tossing them in an _actual_ interrogation room! I have _no fucking problem_ with that!" He took a half step closer to the angry Revenant, his face stern and cruel, his voice low as he grumbled, "But you wait. One way or another, I'm going to find that masked bitch, and I'm going to make her regret what she's done to Nema...! I'm going to hunt her down, and when I do... it will be one of the finest kills I have ever made. Right up there with Cheriour."

Serissa crossed her arms over her chest, her nails biting into the ink etched on her skin. "Oh, and I bet you'll be _damn_ proud of yourself, won't you?" The words dripped like venom from her mouth.

He leaned forward, as if he needed to make absolutely sure she understood just how serious he was. "Fiercely proud."

This time, the Earth Angel was a little more rough when he stepped between them, pushing the War Angel back. "All right, _enough!_" His voice came forth from the little pendant that rested perfectly against the base of his scarred throat as it dangled from it's short, thin chain. It was even deeper than Michael's, and somehow, even more threatening, though he said so little. "_Both_ of you." He met Serissa's eyes and held her gaze for a moment, allowing a beat of silence to go by before he continued. "We have more important things to be dealing with, right now, don't you think?"

"Feh...!" Uriel looked at Michael as he rolled his eyes, "Everyone else is cleaning out the place, aren't they? Are they done already?"

"Nearly. Go to your wife; I will come get you when it's finished. We all need to get together and discuss some things."

"I'll say!"

"Just go, Michael." Uriel said, his voice tired and strained from his jangling nerves. He needed to get these two as far away from each other as possible. Serissa's body was so tense she was visibly shaking, glaring daggers into the Fire Angel.

"I'm fucking gone. I've got better shit to deal with _anyway!_"

As Michael stomped away, Serissa was barely able to stop herself from hurling one of her figurines at the back of his red head. Uriel watched as she turned on her booted heel and stomped out of the room, her brown hair waving behind her as she spun and fled.

"Serissa..." He said quietly, daring to follow her out of the room and into the kitchen. She braced her arms on the counter and fought to calm her own breathing, Uriel could see it in the tension of her shoulders and the crease of her brow. "Hey. It's okay."

"The fuck it is...!" Serissa said angrily. "You know, it's people like him that make this world such an ugly place."

The statement made Uriel fumble. "... How could you say something like that?"

Serissa finally noticed the streak of blood that had splattered over her tattooed arm. She groaned and looked away, suddenly desperate to find a towel. Uriel stopped her by gently gripping her wrist and pulling her towards him. He fished his dirty handkerchief out of his pocket to mop away the blood... so she didn't have to.

Her coral lips quivered slightly as she kept her gaze off of her arm, ignoring the sudden waves of nausea. Ignoring the visions of the blood that covered the inside of her home, visions that adrenaline and anger had kept at bay until that moment.

"I just... I don't understand why people always think that revenge is the answer. Why spilling blood is always the solution. All it creates is a vicious cycle of revenge and death."

"What would you have him do?" Uriel asked softly, wiping her arm clean. He stole a glance at her face and noticed more drops of blood on her cheek and neck. "... May I?" he gestured to her throat. When Serissa swallowed and nodded, he softly reached his hand out to dab away the remaining bits of blood. To his subtle shame, he allowed himself to study the gentle slope of her neck as he cleaned it for her. From the corner of his eyes, he watched her lips pinch together in a display of mild disgust and suppressed nausea. He still marvelled at the idea of a Vampire that was so nauseated by the sight of blood, but mainly his curiosity bit into him. How had she come to be this way? "He's scared. He's just trying to protect his family."

"And what about that man's family? The man whose brains I had to just blow out so he wouldn't keep suffering? So he wouldn't face a much crueler death at the hands of your 'scared' friend?"

"I don't know how to answer that." Uriel murmured.

"Because there is no answer. There's never an answer." Serissa frowned when Uriel finished cleaning off her neck. "It's like Michael forgets that he's responsible for this, in a way. That maybe all those Rabbits he killed, all those years ago...? Maybe _their_ families are the ones looking for revenge."

"Everybody makes mistakes, Serissa."

"And everybody _pays_ for them." Serissa turned again. "... I need to go check on my kids."

"Wait." Uriel reached out a hand to stop her. "Before you shot that man... you said something to him."

"... You want to know what I said?"

"Yes."

Serissa sighed and massaged her own forehead, taking a moment to collect herself before looking back at him. "I told him what he needed to hear: that his God, this... 'Celestiel'... hadn't abandoned him."

"Why would you lie to him like that?"

"Because nobody deserves to suffer," she said as she walked through the door. "And nobody deserves to die without hope, either."

xXxXxXx

A small grunt left the lips of former Dragonmaster, her golden hands pulling hard on the denim of her now-useless pants. She needed clothing... she couldn't roam around in a dark green bedsheet that had been tied to her body like a cheap toga...

She sighed when the denim finally gave way under her grip, turning her useless pants into shorts that she... _hoped_ would be more useful. The bedsheet slipped to the floor as she undid the knots, and on went the shorts. "... Shinryu fucking help me..." Lilith swore as the denim pinched at her hips. She hopped and glared at her reflection in her vanity as she struggled to get her impromptu shorts over the generous curves of her hips, the rise of her... well... bottom. "... Dammit!" She stomped and snarled and _finally_ the denim moved further up her body. She stopped and stared at herself.

Yeah... no way in Hell was she going to zip these up. She turned and glared at her rump like the enemy it was, in that moment. Womanly curves... fucking hips that spoke of fertility. The Elder Council would be clapping their hands, right about now... "Ugh..." Lilith grumbled and grabbed the largest shirt she had, a shirt previously used as a nightshirt. It used to fall to her formerly knobby knees in a shapeless mass of purple cloth, embroidered and beaded at the sleeves and bottom hem like more of the traditional clothing of Gehenna was. This time, the shirt fell far enough down to hide the unzipped, unbuttoned fly of her shorts, and that was about it. The lower curve of her rear still showed... and somehow, the shapeless shirt was now _given_ a shape, her breasts pushing the purple fabric out and causing it to drape over her body in a way that almost teased and invited...

Lilith was mortified. Her cat-eye pupils thinned into slits in her wide eyes, and her hands closed over her breasts. More than a handful, easily... she needed a bra. She desperately needed a bra or else she was going to bounce everywhere and everyone would look and she would _kill_ them for looking. She was shit with a sword but dammit, she would find a way if they looked...!

The knocking on the door was gentle and quiet and grated all the more on her nerves, because of it. "_What?_" She snapped.

"Princess..."

Oh, of course it was _him_. "Jinho, go _away_."

There was a pause, and Lilith could only assume he was sighing. "Are you decent?"

She glanced at herself in the mirror.

"... Lilith?"

"I _guess_ I'm fucking decent!" She snapped. Until she got new clothes, this was as decent as she could ever hope to be...

Jinho slipped through the wood of her door, not bothering to open and close it. Knowing Lilith, he was sure she had it locked, anyway. His cane lightly tapped just once on her floor, punctuating the silence that followed. That dark green bedsheet no longer shielded her adult body, and the clothes she'd chosen only emphasized her new form. The way the fabric was pulled taut here and there. The way her impromptu shorts left her so much of her legs bare. No more knobby knees, clearly...

"Jinho, I am _this fucking close_ to punching your perverted fucking face in! You can't even _imagine!_"

"I'm sorry." Ink-black eyes immediately dropped to the carpet. "Your changes are... a bit..."

"_Hideous?_"

"Surprising." Jinho insisted with a small frown.

Lilith's bare feet padded across the room as mental daggers shot out of her maroon eyes. "Don't talk to me about _surprises_; you're not the one stuck _inside_ this body!"

"I know." She hated how even when he seemed exasperated, his voice was smooth like cool water over stones. "I know. I'm sorry."

She found herself brushing her champagne blonde locks over her bosom – anything to cover it – and grumbled, "So do you _want_ something?"

"Everyone is gathering to discuss what's happened."

"What is there to discuss? We got attacked by Rabbits, their not-so-beloved Queen nearly got offed, I nearly got offed. That's it. The end."

The Gehenna Vampire pulled his top hat off of his head, and the action sent the few loose waves of hair that had escaped his low ponytail free and falling around his face. "It has more to do with where we should go from here."

It was Lilith's turn to stare at the floor.

"... They will want to speak with you."

"'Course they will." The Evil's lips pressed into a thin line. "Fine, let's go." Some upset part of her allowed herself to bump against his shoulder, though it did little to affect his balance or his impossibly calm temper.

And she hated that about him, too. And the way he seemed to have no problem with silence, even really strained ones, like the one they shared as they moved down the hall, down a flight of steps. "... So the place is still a mess." It really was, though to be fair, they'd clearly done all they could do. But no amount of cleaning would have saved the carpets, stained in blood. Or the gouges in the walls from too many weapons and bodies... Burn marks, no doubt from Michael...

She was happy that Jinho replied and distracted her. "Until more adequate repairs can be made, this is the best we can do, I'm afraid..."

"You're still a mess, too."

Jinho tried to tell himself that Lilith being blunt and a touch mean was better than Lilith being clearly out of sorts, like she had been for the battle. It meant that she was coming to grips with this... suddenly even more complicated situation. "I have not had the time to wash up, no." He looked down at himself as his cane tapped across each step. The blade hiding inside desperately needed to be properly washed and cared for... His white gloves had been stained with far too much blood to ever be saved, and he'd thrown them away before going to get Lilith. Spots of blood dotted his white cravat, and he knew he'd need to throw that away, too... His hair was mussed and messy and the soft waves that had fallen out of his ponytail brushed softly against his cheekbones. "I look forward to unwinding as soon as this little meeting is over... We all need it."

"We'll probably be packing, instead."

A smooth frown creased the Gehenna Vampire's lips, but Lilith moved ahead of him, following the sounds of voices. She moved through a set of double doors that had been propped open, seeing several of their group sitting in chairs around a long dining table. Serissa, her arms crossed over her chest. Raphael sat slumped in his chair, leaning to one side, his face resting on his fist. Lilith arched a brow at him. The Wind Angel looked like his was barely keeping himself _awake_. Setsuna's chair scooted across the floor as Lilith entered, his brown eyes widening, his mouth opening and then promptly shutting.

Lilith looked over her shoulder just in time to see Jinho shaking his had at the Messiah, giving him a silent warning...

It set Lilith off in a way she couldn't hope to contain. "I _know_, I'm fucking _lumpy! _You don't need to gawk at me!"

Setsuna gestured helplessly, though his face grew moody and cross. "How are you expecting people to react? You're practically two feet taller and you have D cups!"

"What the fuck are _D cups?_"

"It's a bra size here in Assiah; calm down." Raphael grumbled from his seat.

The former Dragonmaster shifted her rage at him. "Calm down? _Calm down?_ I got my potions stolen and I nearly got _murdered;_ don't tell me to calm down!"

"We _all_ nearly got murdered." Setsuna snapped.

"I was a _target!_ I'm not sure that our situations are the same!"

The Messiah's head tilted as he glared at Lilith. "How were you a target? That doesn't make any sense!"

"I have a great idea!" Raphael said in a low, unhappy rumble. "How about we just sit down and wait for everyone to get here before we talk?"

"Oh, go take a fucking _nap!_" Lilith hissed. "What the Hell did _you_ do that was so taxing? Ruffle their feathers with the breeze?"

His head lifted, and his hand dropped against the arm of his chair as he delivered an ice-blue, cold glare. "I've healed nearly every single person in this mansion, one of whom was fatally wounded. Tell me, what exactly did you contribute to any of this mess?" His face didn't change, even as Lilith's lips pursed into an moody pout. His icy eyes merely shifted just beyond her. "You're sure you're fine, Jinho?"

Jinho's hands flew up in an excusing gesture. "No, no. Nothing that a Vampiric 'nightcap' of sorts won't fix. I promise."

"Speaking of." Serissa seemed to be trying hard not to boil over, waving at a stylized silver teapot. "It's warm."

"Then it's perfect." The Gehenna Vampire moved over to sit by her, pouring the thick, red liquid into one of a few teacups. A part of him itched to ask for tea to mix in, and he ignored that urge. He knew it was better to take in the blood as it was now, pure, for the sake of some scratches here, a bruise there... even if the purity of the blood sent that fuzzy heat through him.

The former Dragonmaster shook as she glared at Raphael, but if she had anything to say, Serissa took those words and drowned them when she grumbled at her, "Please just sit, Lilith. You'll get your chance to scream like a banshee soon enough."

What else could Lilith do but stomp over to the nearest chair in her bare feet and plop down into it? Anger made her deaf to the approaching voices of the people they waited for.

"... just like her. Should Setsuna and I?"

"No. Forget about it."

"Michael, Raphael insisted on bedrest, didn't he?"

"Are you fucking serious right now, Uriel? This is Nema. She gets bored more easily than _I_ do."

"It's fine for now. After all, poor Isobelle really needs her mother after this... Setsuna!" Jibril suddenly hurried when she stepped into the dining room, a bit of cloth cradled in her hands. "Here, catch."

The Messiah blinked and fumbled with the bundle she quickly tossed to him before she even rounded the table to sit beside him, but he understood as soon as he unwrapped it, the glint of light shining off of the crystal, cross-shaped earring. "Oh... I should get this back to her-"

"Tomorrow. She can wait. She won't be using it tonight, anyway." A small smile crossed her lips as her husband passed a concerned hand across her forehead, through her light blue hair. "I'm fine. I didn't hold it for all that long..."

Uriel pulled out another chair, motioning to the several left over. "Sit, Michael."

"Am I your dog, now? I'm standing. This won't take long." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared over at Serissa. "As soon as Nema's all better, we're leaving. You won't have to worry about future torture sessions happening here."

Lilith bit at the insides of her cheeks. It started...

"I'm ready to go with you." Raphael nodded at him with tired eyes. "If there's even a chance this is going to keep happening, I want to be near Barbiel and Abel."

"We should definitely take this away from Assiah." Setsuna agreed. "It's not as if this place has the luxury of time stopping, this time around. We'll be lucky if this doesn't make it on at least the local news..."

"It won't make it anywhere near the news." Serissa insisted. "I won't let it, and Judas definitely won't let it."

"Then we got lucky... _this_ time."

The Revenant only nodded in quiet agreement, seeming to want as little to do with this conversation as possible.

A beat of silence passed, and Lilith wasn't even sure why. Wasn't it obvious? Everyone wanted out, and how could she blame them? Their untouchable, indestructible game piece was thoroughly dismantled. So what was the point in waiting around for some magic, Angelic consensus? She stood, and heard the scrape of another chair join hers.

"We mustn't be hasty."

What? Lilith turned wide, incredulous maroon eyes at the Gehenna Vampire who licked the last bit of blood off his lip and adjusted the top hat sitting on his head.

"Hasty?" Michael scoffed. "What the fuck are you even _talking_ about? We never should have even _humored_ this piece of shit Dragonmaster!"

"Michael-"

But the Fire Angel spoke over Jinho. "And if we _hadn't_ humored this piece of shit Dragonmaster, this _never_ would have happened, and Nema would be _fine. _She would be _fucking fine!_"

"I beg to differ, Michael-sama." Jinho kept his voice even in the face of all the heated words being hurled at him. "You can't say for certain that this wouldn't have happened. Clearly it was a part of the Uprising's plans to have this Celestiel woman attack Nema. This would have happened one way or another. The location isn't a true factor in any of this."

"_Don't you fucking say that sh-_"

"It is the truth, Michael-sama. You have to consider the fact that the Uprising has a powerful player on their side. More powerful than Nemaelle."

A sneer pulled itself across Michael's lips, green eyes burning holes into Jinho's skull. "You talk about this like it's nothing to you. Nema nearly _died_, you fucking _realize_ that shit?"

"_I do not wish harm on my friend._" Strange, how even when Jinho was clearly struck by an accusation, he spoke so smoothly. Smooth in a different way... like the slow, sure stroke of a knife in the hand of someone confident enough to take their time. "Nemaelle is a valued part of our group and I know that all of us care for her in some respect. She is the daughter of two of us, the mother of two others, your wife, and a dear friend to several of the rest. This is not a discussion of Nema's importance, or how much she is cared for. This is a discussion about the inevitability of this attack occurring."

"So because this was _inevitable,_ we should just stay right where we're at? That's what you're seriously saying to me right now?"

"I'm saying that it does not matter where we go. Clearly there are spies of some sort in the Uprising who are marvelous trackers. Nemaelle told me that all of you who left Heaven did so in the very early morning. No one should have seen you."

Michael found himself momentarily speechless, and he remembered why sometimes, Jinho really did just... rub him the wrong fucking way. Calm to the point of coldness... Sometimes the bastard just reminded him a little too much of his brother. And that set him off all over again... "All your _facts_ aren't exactly telling me to fucking _stay,_ Jinho. They're telling me to get out there and take these fuckers _out_ before they can pull another number like this!"

"Michael-sama, please. I am speaking to you as a friend. You cannot and should not go after Celestiel as you are, now. Your rage blinds you..."

"And you sitting on your hands and dragging your feet about this is getting _so much_ done, isn't it?"

Jinho only turned his ink-black eyes to the Angel of Healing. "Raphael, what condition was Nema in when Michael called you to her?"

Raphael blinked tired eyes at the Vampire, but he answered with a sleepy sigh, "I can't really... explain it. Her internal organs seemed scrambled, somehow... If I hadn't gotten to her, she would have gone into shock and died. She was already starting to go into shock when I reached her."

"Did Nema tell you if she knew how this happened to her...?"

"No. No you fucking _don't_ you fucking _Demon._" Michael cut in before Raphael could even begin to form a reply in his lethargic mind.

"Everything about your response tells me that even if Raphael doesn't know, you do." Jinho responded with a frown.

"So _what_ if I do?"

"How did Celestiel do this to Nema?"

Michael suddenly crossed the room, making a beeline for Jinho with clenched fists. The Vampire was quick to draw the hidden blade from his cane and point it at the Angel of War.

"I'm not here to fight you. I am trying to make a point. Somehow, Celestiel was able to take hold of a woman no one could hope to get close to and nearly kill her, merely by touching her. You have to consider the implications of that kind of strength... Michael-sama, who is to say Celestiel couldn't somehow do the same to you... or worse? We know what she is capable of, but we have no clue if that's the furthest limit of her power. That could have been as simple to her as a flicker of flame is to you..."

"Get your fucking blood-covered blade out of my fucking face, Jinho." His voice was low and quivering with threats.

"Say it was you, today." Jinho insisted, the smoothness of his voice softening into something like feathers. "And say that Raphael could not get to you. Maybe they took you away... Now you're dead. Heaven loses an Elemental Angel and the General of their Army."

"So what?"

"You don't mean that."

"So _what?_"

"So Nemaelle loses her husband." Jinho continued, his impossibly dark eyes pleading. "Think of it, Michael, think of all that effort. The Revolution and the trial... it was for Heaven, but it was also for her, for the both of you. And now she's lost you, for it."

In that moment he would've liked to set the Gehenna Vampire and his silky tongue on fire. "... Fuck you and your hypothetical situations, Jinho." Michael grabbed a chair, pulling it out and falling into it in a moody clatter of boots and the wooden legs of the chair itself.

"And your children... they lose their father. Nathaniel is five. That is no age for a boy to lose a parent... and Isobelle is only two. She's only just barely begun to know you, Michael-sama."

"I said _fuck you,_ Jinho!" Michael suddenly snarled.

Of course he'd struck a chord inside of the Fire Angel. Sometimes, that was the only way to get through to him... Jinho sighed and slipped the blade back into the sheath of his deadly cane.

"With all due respect, Jinho..." This time it was Jibril who spoke, her voice every bit as gentle in it's reasoning as Jinho's own. "Everything you have said only gives us more incentive to leave. Not stay in a location they already know how to get to. Celestiel is clearly no one to be messed with, or taken lightly. Remaining here seems like an invitation, doesn't it?"

Before Jinho could reply, Setsuna spoke, adding on a point he had hoped – admittedly, in vain – would never be brought up. "It's not as if we can count on the Shinryu to give us advanced warning about any attempts to attack us, again. Judging from Lilith's... um..."

Lilith's eyes narrowed angrily. "My _what?_ My _tits?_ My _ass?_"

Setsuna's shoulders slumped, and he muttered, "Yes. Judging from Lilith's tits and ass, she can't exactly call up the Shinryu, anymore."

"Go fuck yourself, Messiah!"

"Princess." Jinho's ink-black eyes met hers, and he motioned to her chair. "Please, sit. This is going to be sorted out."

Lilith wanted to just fucking scream at him and his top hat and his cane and his everything. What the _point_ in all this? But she dropped back down into her chair, arms crossed, glaring at the dark oak table.

"It's true, though. Lilith isn't the Dragonmaster, anymore. How are we even supposed to go about the Prophecy, now?" Raphael asked.

Jinho's lips curled into a charming, though very unhappy frown. "The same way we have been, before this happened..." He spoke slowly, even allowed himself to sound confused, because he truly was.

Raphael gestured helplessly. "_How?_"

His frown grew a bit taut, firm on his face. "I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about the Prophecy and how to deal with it. Lilith's recent misfortune doesn't delete the Prophecy itself. The Prophecy still exists; it is still a very real threat."

"But the Shinryu can't tell us-" Setsuna insisted.

It wasn't typically in Jinho's nature to interrupt, but even his nerves had become raw in the heat of all of this. "But the Shinryu hadn't been telling us much of anything since we came together, here. It hadn't bothered any of you, then. Now it does?"

"It has more to do with the fact that now there is no way for the Shinryu to contact us in the future." Uriel reasoned quietly.

"If I may be frank… I believe that we have gotten far too comfortable with holding the hands of the Shinryu. We need to realize that we cannot always be given the answers. Sometimes we must work for them."

A short, "Feh...!" came out of Michael's moody mouth.

"I am surprised that so many people in this room, who have never had to listen to the Shinryu before, are suddenly so dependent on the Shinryu that their lack of presence strikes fear into your hearts..." Jinho wondered out loud, his voice soft and even a bit sad.

"Oh, fuck off, Jinho." Michael snapped, glaring up at him. "This whole thing was _about_ what the Shinryu were supposed to be telling your bitchy fucking Princess. This isn't fear, this is us knowing when we've been _fucked_ over."

"Do not pin this on Lilith." Jinho's cane tapped against the ground in a single, firm motion that seemed sudden and strange, coming from him. "And it _is_ fear. I understand that there are so many legitimate concerns about staying. But if it didn't matter before, why does it matter, now? Because we have had a taste of the battles we were going to be fighting, anyway?"

"What does this attack even have to _do_ with the Prophecy? It's the fucking Uprising blowing up into an outright _terrorist group!_ That's all it is!"

"We have every reason to believe that the Uprising is at least involved in the Prophecy on some level, Michael-sama. If not for Celestiel's power in itself, then because the leader, Azrael, has made it very clear that Nemaelle was not their only target in this attack. It was also Lilith."

"Jesus fucking Christ, Jinho. Lie better." The War Angel snapped.

"It is no lie, and it makes a disturbing amount of sense, if you think about it." Jinho insisted, the smoothness of his voice cutting through all of Michael's roughness. "Lilith's youth potions were stolen at some point between last night and today. Soon they were discovered to be missing... not long after Lilith had been forced into reverting to her true form, they commenced their attack."

"... They waited to be sure the Shinryu couldn't warn her of their presence?" Uriel asked, frowning up at the Gehenna Vampire.

"The timing is entirely too convenient. Just long enough to be sure the Shinryu couldn't send a warning... but not a second to spare, after that." Jinho nodded. "And then there is the fact that the leader of the Uprising sought out Lilith himself, to kill her." His head tilted as he spoke to Michael. "You ought to be considering this yourself, Michael. You were the one who saved her."

He threw his hands up in the air. "So Azrael tried to cut her throat open! That doesn't make her a _target!_"

"Except for the fact that he _said_ so!" Lilith snapped at him. "He said they needed me out of the way! That they had to make _sure_ of it!"

"Yeah?" Michael's eyes burned into hers. "And tell me, why exactly should _any_ Angel give a single fuck about you?"

That hurt Lilith a little more than she felt it ought to have... Her pupils thinned into cat-eyed slits, and her mouth fell open to snap at him all over again, but he continued grumbling and glaring.

"Here's a thought – maybe the world doesn't revolve around your ass, Princess! This Uprising thing? It started _without_ you. Just like the Revolution started without you and the Rabbit Hunting started without you and _every fucking war_ _ever_ started without you! But now suddenly the leader of a rebel group tries to off you and, oh! This entire fucking political issue in Heaven must be about _me!_" Michael snorted. "Are you fucking _kidding_ me right now?"

Lilith stood and hear her chair tip over behind her, as she planted her golden hands on the table. "That's really fucking rich coming from an Angel with one of the biggest fucking egos ever! Does it _bug_ you that maybe this stupid Uprising issue is tied in with a Prophecy a little Evil girl made? You don't _get_ to play the 'Lilith has an ego' card! Because guess what? _Right fucking back at you!_ The world is bigger than Heaven and whatever fucking stupid issues you have up there!"

"Enough." The single word was an echo between the Gehenna Vampire and the Earth Angel.

Jinho's voice was a whisper in Lilith's ear, which had gone red in all her anger. "Please sit. It's okay..." She lifted up her chair and dropped back into it with a grumble, and he continued. "Lilith has no reason to lie about herself being a target. We have to consider that the Uprising may have a very real part of the Prophecy, and if so, then we do need to stick together. The Shinryu said they needed the aid of the Elemental Angels and King Judas. Judas is Assiahbound. That means we must stay here..."

"... And what do you suggest we do, then, Jinho?" Serissa asked, seeming nearly as tired as Raphael, by this point. Just watching everyone else argue was so very draining... "If you insist that all of you Angels and Demons should keep taking up residence here, what do we do? I have _children_ here. You're asking me to keep them in the line of fire, Jinho..."

"I know..." Jinho nodded, speaking quietly. Odd how the quietness of his voice seemed all the more piercing after all that screaming... "The best that I can suggest is that we treat your home like our fortress. Now more than ever, we need to be on the defensive. Anyone not fit to defend themselves should be given protection. Every child, Nema so long as she's unwell, and Lilith."

"_Hah._" Michael gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "Of course the Princess gets a personal guard. Of course she does."

"Well I'm _sorry_ I don't have military fucking training!" Lilith hissed.

"You _ought_ to."

"Well I _don't!_"

"_Well you ought to!_"

Jinho wasn't sure that he liked Michael's insistence. "Michael-sama, you can't possibly be suggesting..."

"If you are _so fucking sure_ she's a target, then she _needs_ to be able to defend herself! She can't _count_ on a bodyguard every hour of the day and night! We _do_ still have fucking lives, even if we have to spend them _here._" Michael said dryly. "So I'll do it. Train her and turn her loose."

Lilith blinked and felt herself recoiling at the very idea. "Are you serious?"

"Why? Princess feeling a little scared?" Michael mocked her, scowling.

"This isn't boot camp, Michael!"

"Oh, I'll _make_ it boot camp!" He bit out harshly. "I can't say it'll be painless, but it'll be fucking quick. We don't have time to take it easy. It's not like we can ask the fucking _Shinryu _how much time we have!"

"You're insane!" Lilith cried incredulously. "You're going to end up killing me!"

"Honestly, if I fucking kill you?" Michael crossed his arms over his chest. "Then it goes to show you shouldn't have been running around preaching Prophecies of destruction in epic proportions. If you can't survive me, you can't survive a fucking Apocalypse of _any_ fucking measure!" He strode over to the doorway, snapping as he went. "And who goes off to save the world without having _any_ experience fighting? At least Setsuna knew how to punch a man's lights out! What the fuck can you do? Nothing!"

"Fuck you, Michael! I'm not _entirely_ useless!"

"Then prove it! Tomorrow, 0500."

"What?"

"_Five fucking AM! _Jesus Christ..." Michael tore a hand through his red hair. "Are we done here? Please tell me we're fucking done, here."

Jinho blinked ink-black eyes and looked over everyone else's faces. "... Yes. I suppose we are done, here."

"Good. Nobody talk to me for the rest of the fucking night; it's been a shitty day." He left, and after a pause that was loud in all it's silence, everyone else began to slowly trickle away into their rooms, though Jinho poured himself another teacup full of blood.

He looked over to see the Water Angel stopping beside Lilith, offering a quiet, "I assume you'll need better clothing, for tomorrow."

"Obviously." Lilith snapped, not even bothering to look at her...

But Jibril was patient, even smiling, though it was small and sad. "I can stop by later with some of my clothes. I... don't think I have anything that will fit... around your bust." She paused when the former Dragonmaster dropped her elbow against the arm of her chair in frustration. "But I should have some pants that I rarely wear... they might fit a little better. Shoes and socks, too."

Lilith wanted to just scream at her and all her charity. The worst part was she could have a whole new wardrobe in seconds... but she would have needed to contact the Elder Council in order to do so. That was the very last thing she wanted to do... so how could she refuse this? "Thanks, I guess."

It was only then when Jibril left alongside her husband, the pair giving Jinho a short bow that he returned. He stood, sighing and sipping, until his cup was empty and Lilith was still slumped down in her chair... Jinho didn't bother trying to coax her to return to her room. After everything that had happened, maybe she deserved to sit in the dining room, if that's what she really wanted... He set down the cup and made ready to leave, his cane tapping the ground as he moved. "Goodnight, Princess."

"Jinho?"

He paused just past her chair, looking at her over his shoulder. "Yes, Lilith?" He frowned as he looked down at her. He couldn't fault her for feeling overwhelmed or stressed, after today, but it still seemed out of place to see her look so... troubled, one hand reaching up to rub one of her Dragonmaster earrings.

"... Why?"

"I don't think I understand..."

"No! _Bullshit_, Jinho! You understand _perfectly!_" She snapped, glaring up at him with dark red cat eyes.

Jinho frowned down at her. "Did you want to go back?"

No... No, obviously that was the very last thing she wanted, now that she was all breasts and hips and shapely legs and no Shinryu... When she heard another tap from his cane, saw him turn to leave all over again, she found the next two words clawing out of her throat and shooting off into the air. "Thank you...!"

"We can take care of this Prophecy without the Shinryu." Jinho's voice was simple and smooth, cool water over rocks again. "There's no need to thank me for convincing them of the obvious."

"I'm just saying you didn't have to-"

"I thought you didn't want to get married to a lecher with six wives."

Something about that statement cut into her. Something in the sudden iciness of his voice and the unreadable black of his eyes. "... Well... Well I _don't!_" That much was the truth. That had always been the truth. Why would she ever want to subject herself to being one wife out of many? Why had the Elder Council ever thought that would be a great idea, to begin with? The day they'd chosen Jinho for her was the day she knew just how little the Elders cared for her...

Finally, some strange, bitter kind of smile curled on Jinho's charming lips. "Well then... be happy. I've bought us some more time." He spoke over his shoulder as he left her there, sitting in the dining room. "Rest... you will need it when you start your training, tomorrow."

xXxXxXx

"That was quick..."

Of course she was still awake and nowhere near their bed. Michael had figured he'd return to that much, and though he knew that wasn't what Nema had been instructed to do... it still made him happy to see her sitting at the coffee table, wearing nothing but their infamous and wonderful black, button-down shirt. It may have been his, but she stole it often enough for him to think it was hers, too. "Sure didn't feel quick." His eyes, more blue than green, widened slightly as his gaze dropped to the table. Shards of broken glass from what must have been one of the bottles of root beer Nathan had become obsessed with drinking... A very welcome, excited smile suddenly pulled on his lips, and he hurried over to her. "Hey, you-!"

"No." Nema's voice was small, her snowy cheeks burning pink in embarrassment. "No, I... I just broke it in the sink. That's all."

The smile dropped from the Fiery Angel's face as he looked down and realized all the other things that were covering the table... a notebook with a pen sitting on top of it, columns marked on the top page. Three of them, each labeled, 'Attempt No.', 'Time', 'Damage'... A stopwatch sat in her bare lap, the blue dragon etched around her thigh seeming to reach for it...

"I guess I just figured that the whole bottle might be a bit... much. I mean... start small. Right?"

He hated how... small and broken her voice was, broken like all the glass on the table. "... You just start?" The notebook didn't have much written on it... Attempt number one. Nothing else... He looked down at the crown of her snowy head, and Nema merely showed him the stopwatch. She must have stopped it as soon as he walked in...

45 minutes, 13 seconds... She'd been staring a single shard of glass for over half an hour with no result.

Nema watched when Michael cleared out the stopwatch and tossed it aside, grabbed the notebook and flung it to the floor. His hand brushed aside the sharp little shards, pushing them into a pile. "Nema." He ran his hand through her freshly washed, ivory strands of hair as she tilted her head up at him. "You are more than an Aion." She opened her mouth to speak, and he silenced her with a finger to her lips, just like she loved to do to him. "No. You're a tough fucking bitch who can take anything. Including this."

The sadness on her face softened, and she smiled between a pair of kisses she left on his fingertip. "So no experiments?"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't _try_. You _should_ fucking try...!" He reached for the steaming cup of tea Nema had been sipping from. "But fuck, Nema... Raphael just had to put you back together like you're a jigsaw puzzle. Take it easy. I don't want your liver to randomly dislodge or some crazy shit..." He held the cup to his face, inhaling the steam, his red brows furrowing just a bit. "I mean, fuck bedrest. You feel good enough to get up and smash a bottle in the sink, do it. But I don't know. At least wait till tomorrow for your glass experiment. That's all I'm saying." He finally took a sip, and outright grimaced. "The fuck is this tea?"

Nema's head tilted, her smile growing. "It's just peppermint tea, Michael. Just like Raphael said I should drink."

He took another sip, and he set the cup back down. "Sure don't envy you, right now."

This time she laughed, though she pressed a pale hand to her stomach in the process. "Oh come on! It's not that bad! It's not even _vaguely_ bad!"

"Hey, good for you if you like shit tea, I guess!"

She laughed again, tapping his hip with her free fist. "So do the others know about my, um..."

Michael allowed her to refrain from spelling out her condition. "It didn't come up at the meeting." He shrugged it off. "People will find out through the grapevine tomorrow. They don't _need_ know right this fucking second. They know you're gonna be cooped up in here and bored out of your sorry skull for a while and that's all they need to know, right now."

"And then we're leaving...?"

As much as Michael had wished this wouldn't come up, he knew it would have. "... No. Your best friend Mr. Vampire convinced everyone to stay. I _guess_ this mansion is a fort, now."

Sighing, Nema leaned over, resting her cheek against his hip and quietly reveling in the feel of his fingers threading through her hair. "Oppa wouldn't have pushed for that if he didn't think we could pull off staying..."

"Yeah, well we _better_ fucking pull it off. Now that Lilith's basically worthless I'm gonna be training her so she won't get fucking _slaughtered_. Then hopefully we'll get this Shinryu shit figured out and she can get high and talk to them, again."

Nema looked up at him with a confused little frown. "Training her?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be a fucking nightmare, I know it. But somebody has to..."

"When do you start?"

"Tomorrow, bright and early."

"Oh..." Little snowy fingers curled around his belt buckle.

Michael's eyes were half-closed and very blue, as Nema's lips began to kiss the expanse of skin below his bellybutton. "Aren't you a bit too queasy right now?"

"We were rudely interrupted earlier today. I don't like being interrupted..." She was already picking up where they'd left off, her hands pulling open his belt.

Oh, how was he supposed to reject her, especially after a day like this one? A needy growl rumbled in his throat, and he took her by her elbows, lifting her out of her chair to pull her against his body.

But that action alone, simple as it was, sent a gasp from Nema's lips... a startled one, an unhappy one, and when she pressed her body against his, it was only because she would have stumbled over, otherwise. She looked down at herself, one hand resting over her stomach, the other clinging onto Michael's shoulder. She knew Raphael had said she'd be feeling really out of sorts for a while, but this was torturous...! Frustrated tears touched her eyes when she saw Michael's hand join hers, pressed against her fragile torso. "Sorry..."

"Don't be sorry." His voice was quiet but firm, rough around the edges, soft in the middle. He removed her hand from her belly and placed her teacup in her palm. "Guess we're gonna have to be good little Angels for a while, huh?"

They tried to laugh it off as he slowly took her to bed. Some other time, then... but soon. Oh God, hopefully very soon...


	9. Chapter 8

**Layers**

_Chapter Eight_

By: Brenli and Jael

Heat from a fire burning taller than the buildings of Gehenna played through Celestiel's hair. The familiar smell of seared flesh and fire accelerant permeated the air. Long ago the smell was enough to make the Angel sick to her weak stomach, but the battles she had seen made her immune to the stench of it. Mud soaked into the knee of her pants and over the top of her boot, the wind from the fires ruffled the fabric of her frayed cloak. Beneath her darkened hood, Celestiel felt a pair of tears hotter than the flames dribble over her dirty cheeks and drip off her quivering chin.

When had this become war? When had attacking women and children in their homes become something honorable? When had the senseless killing of a village's life-giving cattle become a tactic of battle? Celestiel remembered a better time, when war meant two teams of soldiers, ready to die for their cause, met on a field and tested their strength in a gritty display of blood and blades.

This wasn't war. This was genocide.

She looked down at her own bloodied hands with her throat dry from more than just heat and exhaustion. She realized with disgust that she had turned herself into an instrument of destruction... for no reason, whatsoever.

Behind her stood a Rabbit barely seventeen years of age, watching her with eyes misted by the tears he couldn't shed anymore, white paths left by the ones he had already cried, carved into the dirt on his cheeks.

"Celestiel-sama, we can't stay here. They're going to come looking for you."

"I know that, Azrael." Celestiel clenched her tired fingers around a scrap of bloodstained silk. A scrap taken off of an Evil who died protecting her own child... from Celestiel's blade. "Heaven has never taken kindly to deserters. They'll want my head on a spike for this." Rising from her kneel, Celestiel drew her sullied sword from its scabbard and buried the tip of it into the red mud at her feet.

"I don't understand any of this." Azrael said, his voice quaking with emotion he couldn't restrain. "I've heard the stories. I know what you did during the First War... what you sacrificed." He swallowed. "You're a good soldier...! Why would they want to hurt you because you just can't play into this ridiculous farce they call a war?"

"I don't know how to answer that, child." Celestiel said softly. "The only thing I know is that I'm not a soldier. Not anymore... I'm just the murderer they have made me."

Azrael hung his head, his muddied white hair falling before his eyes. "What do we do now?"

Celestiel frowned as she tied the scrap of silk from her last victim around the hilt of the sword she had stuck in the ground. "Now... I make a promise to myself and to the rest of Creation. A promise that I will never again raise my blade against the innocent. And that somehow... I will find a way to make sure nobody suffers needlessly, again. If it takes all the breath I have left, I will find some way... to make sure peace is the only thing that reigns in this land, and all others."

"That's not possible, Celestiel-sama."

Celestiel grit her teeth as she watched the scrap of silk blow in the wind, tickling the blade of the sword she would never touch, again. "There has to be a way. And I will find it."

She turned and stepped past Azrael with a look of solemn determination in her red-rimmed eyes. "You should go back."

"I'm not going anywhere." Azrael said, stopping her by grabbing her elbow. "I'll follow you to the edge of Creation."

xXxXxXx

Celestiel's eyes slowly opened, and she lifted her head off her desk. Rubbing her fingers over her sleepy eyes, she slowly relived the memory presented as a dream. To her everlasting shame, she had once participated in the genocide that wiped out half of the Evil population. It was a 'war' that had left her scarred in more ways than the First War did. There was only one thing she walked away from that war with that she counted herself grateful for: Azrael.

He was just a Rabbit. An I-Child who had been promised a pardon for his 'sins' by serving in the Army. Celestiel had been the one to tell him the truth, that no pardon would be given. That if the war didn't kill him, a White Wing would when all the fighting was done. She earned herself a loyal follower, and a dear friend, that day...

She had fallen asleep at her desk again, and the only sound in the room hummed from the water coolant system of her custom built computer.

A sound chimed from the speakers and a window popped up on the screen, in front of a wall of black and green coding.

'Program synthesized. Ready for download.'

She stared at the screen for several moments, processing the idea that after years of work... it was finally complete.

"Why are you still up?" Azrael's voice drifted through the room and she felt his hands on her shoulders, gently wrinkling the fabric of his shirt, draped over her bare body. "Come back to bed," he murmured huskily in her ear.

"It's done." Celestiel said slowly. "The Hydra... It's done."

"What?" Azrael's pale hand reached out to grip the side of her monitor to tilt it upwards, so he could see for himself. "I can't believe it...!" A slow grin spread over his features. "You did it!"

"Yes. Yes, I did."

A triumphant laugh erupted from Azrael's mouth and he lifted Celestiel right out of her chair. "How much longer, now?"

"Eighteen days." Celestiel murmured, staring at his throat with a blankness in her dark eyes. "It will take eighteen days to copy to an external hard drive."

Azrael laughed again and pulled Celestiel against his chest, wrapping her in a warm embrace. "You did it... You finally did it. Eighteen days, and everything we've worked for will finally be realized...!"

Celestiel knew, deep in her gut, that she should have been excited. But thoughts raced through her troubled mind and tugged her lips into a deep frown. She said nothing as Azrael scooped her limp body into his arms and carried her back to bed.

xXxXxXx

_The Holy Lance, (also known as the Holy Spear, Spear of Destiny, Lance of Longinus, or Spear of Longinus) is the name given to the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross, according to the Gospel of John._

_The lance (Greek: λογχη, longche) is mentioned only in the Gospel of John (19:31-37) and not in any of the Synoptic Gospels. The gospel states that the Romans planned to break Jesus' legs, a practice known as crurifragium, which was a method of hastening death during a crucifixion. Just before they did so, they realized that Jesus was already dead and that there was no reason to break his legs. To make sure that he was dead, a Roman soldier (named in extra-Biblical tradition as Longinus) stabbed him in the side._

Uriel sighed and raked his hands over his tired face. This 'Wikipedia' was certainly proving useless. Everything this silly website had told him wasn't anything he hadn't already learned from pouring over tons of books.

Truthfully, his books had been far more informative.

For three months, Uriel had spent sleepless nights rifling through pages upon pages of books and records, trying to confirm his half-baked theories about Celestiel. He knew that it would have been helpful to know exactly what he was looking for. Honestly, he had no idea. Just a strange feeling in his gut.

He leaned back in his chair and shut the lid of the laptop he had borrowed from Setsuna, snuffing the soft glow of the screen and plunging his room into darkness. He flicked on his desk lamp and reached for his glass of Jack Daniels. Ice clinked in the bottom of the glass, and none of the amber liquid remained in the bottom. Sighing, he reached for his bottle and poured the last few swallows over the half melted cubes. How many bottles had he gone through the last month, alone? He couldn't even count. The liquor store attendant at the store a few blocks from Serissa's house knew him by name. Shame burned in his stomach as he drained the last of his stock and realized he would have to go back for more.

So maybe he did have a problem... He frowned when he realized that nobody in the house even seemed to care, anyway. In the three months since the attack on Serissa's home, everyone in the house had been pursuing their own agendas. Nema had been cooped up in her room with her daughter, recuperating from her injuries. Jibril and Setsuna visited her on occasion, sometimes taking her son Nathan from her, if he wasn't already running around with little Aaron... or watching Michael and Lilith, who had been spending hours upon hours doing combat training. Raphael sometimes patched up the wounds left on the Evil to pass the time. Jinho was always in the middle of something, it seemed... visiting others or buried in his room, holding a meeting that must have involved business in Sheol. On occasion, Uriel had heard Jinho's smooth silk voice countered by another silky tongue, neither masculine nor feminine. Playful, and yet scheming. The Earth Angel could only assume it was a good thing Jinho kept his door closed, during those meetings.

Uriel stood up from his chair and ignored the familiar dizziness and weakness in his legs. He tossed his empty Jack Daniels bottle into a nearby trash can, cringing when the glass clanked loudly against the empty glass of another. When he retreated to his private bathroom, he noticed yet another empty bottle he had forgotten about sitting next to the sink. He let a fleeting tingle of despair grip at him. Losing track of how much he had consumed seemed to be all too easy...

Frowning, he stored the empty bottle in the cabinet below the sink, and set to work brushing his teeth with the strongest mint toothpaste he had been able to find. He swished and gargled Listerine until his mouth burned and eyes watered. As a final measure, he fished his pack of gum out of the pocket of his jeans, and slipped his last stick of spearmint into his refreshed mouth.

With another forced sigh, he braced his hands on the counter and leaned closer to the mirror. He studied his reflection for as long as he could bear to look at himself. Doll's idle comments about how much he had changed hadn't been far off. He barely recognized his own face, anymore. His green eyes were rimmed with a slightly pink sort of puffiness, and shadowed by the darkness that came with lack of sleep. His hair had grown too long, once again, his mahogany strands were long enough to brush his elbows. His hair was something he absolutely hated. He hated to feel the weight of it, and kept it cut short enough to brush his shoulders. But three months of mental catatonia had given it a chance to grow long, once more. Fixing that was suddenly a priority, in his mind.

He noticed that the buttons of his shirt were off; he uttered a nasty curse and realigned them, leaving the top few buttons open, like he always did. He didn't care who saw his scars, anymore. The horrified look of strangers never bothered him, and the pity his so-called friends gave only angered him. Once, he had felt shame over the mangled and bubbled flesh of his throat, but over time, Uriel had come to realize that shame was the source of pride.

And he didn't have anything to be proud of.

Uriel hated his hair. Hated the feeling of fabric constricting his throat. Hated the look of pressed and neat clothing. Hated the sound of people laughing. He hated pretending that he felt better, when he really didn't. He hated lying to the people in the house when he said he was only tired, that he wasn't really drunk and itching to keeping drinking until he forgot about everything.

He hated how nobody even noticed or asked questions. He hated how he felt so weak that he just wanted somebody, anybody, to notice how badly he wanted to fade out of existence entirely. And he hated how the only thing that would listen or offer comfort was a bottle named Jack Daniels.

Uriel's head bent low over the sink as his lips pinched together in a display of restrained emotion. What was he even doing? Wasting his hours researching a dead end, like that was somehow supposed to make him feel useful, again? How pathetic.

How appropriate for a man like him.

With an angry sniff, Uriel tore himself out of the bathroom before he caught himself staring at his reflection again. He couldn't stand to look at that man, anymore. He could hardly stand to share the same skin as him. He grabbed his wallet off the tablet beside his door and ventured out into the dark and quiet mansion. The eerie quiet indicated that everyone else was asleep, dreaming about whatever it is that happy people dreamed about, while he stayed awake, searching for the bottom of alcohol bottles.

He gripped the banister with white knuckles in an attempt to steady his swaying steps and he descended the stairs to the main entryway of Serissa's large mansion. He was surprised to see that the light was still on. Had Serissa not come home yet?

He had barely seen her at all, in three months. She slept during the day and did most of her work for Judas at night. Whatever work that was... he really didn't know. In the general chaos of the mansion, it was easy for Serissa to slip in and out unnoticed, and she was gone more than she was home.

Shock rippled through his chest when he heard a muffled voice coming from the other side of the front door, and in an irrational panic, he turned and tried to pretend like he was heading back up the stairs.

The door opened and keys jangled.

"I heard you the first time." Serissa's voice echoed through the entryway, her tone edgy with irritation. "I'll be there tomorrow night, like I said I would. I have to go..." A pause. Uriel turned and looked over his shoulder to see Serissa shutting the front door behind her and locking the dead bolt. "Nine o' clock, yeah, I got it. Goodbye."

She pulled her phone away from her ear and angrily punched the end key, silencing whoever it was on the other line before throwing her phone into the opening of her purse.

Uriel arched a dark brow as he watched her stomp over to a table at the edge of the entryway, her wedge heels clacking loudly against the floor. She threw her purse underneath the table with a dramatic and angry sigh.

"Is everything okay?" The words escaped Uriel's voice box before he could think to stop them. So much for slipping quietly back to his room...

Serissa jumped in surprise and looked up at him from across the entryway. She stared at him with wide and surprised eyes for a moment before looking away. Shedding her red jacket, she spoke softly to him. "What are you still doing awake? It's two thirty in the morning..."

"Couldn't sleep." Uriel recited the lie he had become so used to giving, turning and stepping slowly down the steps towards her.

"That seems to be going around, lately, hasn't it?"

"I suppose so." Uriel paused on the last step. "I know it's late, but I was wanting to know if I could have a few minutes of your time?"

Serissa turned surprised eyes to him. "What for?"

"I've been doing a lot of research lately on our masked friend, and it's caused me to want to know more about the Spear of Destiny."

"Ah. Judas' silly antique." Serissa shook her head. "There isn't much to really tell, I'm afraid."

"Nevertheless... I'd like to know everything you do." Uriel swept a hand through his hair. He finally approached her, not meaning to close the distance between them as much as he did. "I know it's late, so if you want to just agree to speak with me tomorrow, I can live with that."

Serissa's eyes narrowed as she studied Uriel's face. Her gaze was so intense and penetrating, all of a sudden. It made heat flush in Uriel's cheeks.

"What?" He muttered.

Without a word, Serissa reached forward to grab the front of his shirt. He flinched when she pulled him closer, her eyes closing as she inhaled deeply through her nose. "... Jack Daniels?"

Uriel covered his mouth with his hand, feeling flustered and embarrassed that she could still smell the biting aroma of whiskey on his breath. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Serissa shrugged and turned away from him... beckoning him to follow. "The only thing you should be sorry for is drinking that goblin piss they try to pass off as whiskey. How about something real to drink?"

The idea of another drink appealed to Uriel greatly, after that painfully awkward little moment. "... Sure."

"Come on. Let me get out of these stupid shoes, and I'll answer your questions."

xXxXxXx

Serissa was truly a beautiful woman. Uriel allowed himself to drink in that thought as he sat on the couch in her den, watching her pour them a pair of bourbons from a crystal canter. Uriel had never been one to appreciate tattoos, but the ink etched into her skin was wonderfully done. Her back was to him, her waves of brown hair swept over one shoulder, allowing him to see a new tattoo he had never noticed peeking out from under the fabric of her sleeveless shirt. Feathers from what looked like a gray Angel wing extended from her shoulder down to her elbow. Her other arm was decorated with the elaborate Hindu Shiva tattoo that Nathaniel had once commented on. The palette the artist had used was monochrome with a hint of color, and Uriel found that interesting. He had always found Serissa fascinating, from the moment he first laid eyes on her. The tattoos and harsh makeup on her skin seemed like such a stark contrast to the soft and angelic features of her face.

He wondered if she had once been as soft as her features suggested. If life had turned her into something that seemed much harsher than she really was...

Uriel shook his head and let a disgusted frown settle on his face. Whatever had happened to her, whatever was still happening to her... it was none of his business.

"So... You had questions for me?"

"Yes." Uriel took the crystal glass of bourbon from Serissa's hand and shifted against the couch cushion when Serissa sat herself beside him. He watched as she tucked her legs beneath her, naturally turning her body to face him and draping an arm over the back of the couch. "I, uh..." Uriel swallowed, temporarily losing his train of thought. "The Spear...? What do you know about it?"

Serissa shrugged her tattooed shoulders. "Only what I've heard in stories. I've never actually seen the thing."

"Anything you do know would be helpful, at this point." Uriel mumbled into the lip of his glass before taking a sip of the liquid she had offered to him. His brows raised at the wonderful taste and elegant smoothness of it.

"Much better than Jack, isn't it?" Serissa said with a smirk, raising her own glass. "Drink up, I have plenty."

Uriel felt uneasy at the thought of being encouraged to drink. He already drank so much... it seemed strange that someone would urge him to take in more.

Oblivious to Uriel's internal struggles, Serissa continued, resting her glass on her knee. "I know that the Spear was used to kill Jesus."

"Right. God's human Son."

Serissa suddenly tsked him, and wagged a maroon tipped finger at him. "No. Jesus wasn't God's Son. That's just what they like you to think."

Uriel gave her a skeptical look.

"Hey, I'm being honest, here." Serissa said, holding up a hand in a display of truthfulness. "Judas knew the guy. In the flesh. He would know."

"Can he even be trusted?"

"Judas is many things," Serissa said, staring at her bourbon glass with a frown curling her mouth. "But he's no liar."

"If what you say is true, then why haven't I heard of such a thing?" Uriel said darkly.

"Because you're an Angel," Serissa replied with a dark little smile. "God didn't like for His children to know that He wasn't always in control. That sometimes things happen and He has no say in them."

Uriel sipped his bourbon and idly picked a piece of lint off the thigh of his jeans. "Go on."

"Well all I know is what Judas has told me," Serissa murmured quietly. "He told me that everyone, even Angels," she poked a finger against his shoulder, "are born with this... black stain on their souls. It's the darkness inside of all of us that calls us to do evil things. Most cultures call it sin. And this... Sin Stain," she giggled at her own lame joke, "is what separates God from all of His children. And when Jesus was born, he was born free of that stain."

"How is that possible?"

Serissa shrugged her tattooed shoulders. "I have no idea. Judas told me that it has something to do with God's program glitching, or... something. I don't really know. But the point is, Jesus was some kind of anomaly, born with an incredible power that he could have used for destruction. But he didn't... he used it for good. He was the only perfect being in existence."

"And the Spear?"

"Since it was used to kill him, his power or... essence or whatever was transferred to the Spear."

"So Judas must have used that power for himself, when he had it in his possession."

"You know, I figured the same thing. But Judas said that the Spear has a will of it's own. It chooses its own master... and it never chose him."

"Then why keep it?"

"It was the very instrument of his damnation. Judas was tricked by an Angel of God into betraying Jesus. Because God wanted him gone... but when Jesus died the death of a sinner after living such a pure life, it caused another glitch in the system. A glitch that weakened both the power of Hell and the power of Heaven... so neither wanted Judas after he hung himself in the Field of Blood. His life can never leave him." Serissa heaved a sigh and finished her bourbon in a few rapid gulps. "Some part of me thinks that he only wants the silly Spear because if he could somehow use the thing, he could release himself from the curse Fate gave to him... But. We all have to live with our choices."

Uriel murmured a soft agreement and nodded.

"But, like I said. It's only a story. All of this happened way before my time."

"What do you mean?"

"I was Turned in the summer of 1292."

"How did that happen?"

"That, my friend, is something I'm not willing to talk about. Ever."

xXxXxXx

Uriel had expected his question of how Serissa was Turned to cause tension between the two of them. Especially when she shot him down so quickly. But he was surprised that it didn't linger between them at all. As Uriel finished his third glass of bourbon and Serissa nursed her fourth, he found that their conversation ran smoother, that their laughter came easier.

"You don't drink from...?" Uriel asked, handing Serissa his empty glass so she could refill it again.

"Directly from the vein? Not for a very long time, now."

"Why? Is it because of..."

"Believe it or not, I don't really have issues seeing blood when I'm feeding. I guess it's that whole feeding frenzy thing. Instincts and everything." Serissa softly shrugged her shoulders and handed a full glass back to him. "No, feeding directly from a vein is a very... intimate experience. As a Vampire I have this... venom, I guess you could call it. We all do."

"Venom?"

"It's an aphrodisiac in our saliva. It paralyzes a victim with, um..." Serissa took another swig of her bourbon. "Intense sexual pleasure."

"Oh."

"Probably pretty awkward to hear, being a virginal Angel and all."

Uriel's smile dropped right off as he murmured into his bourbon. "I'm no virgin."

Serissa arched a brow, staring at him with wide and surprised eyes. "You're not?"

"No."

"Well.. how does an Elemental Angel lose his virginity, I wonder?"

Uriel frowned as he considered putting a stop to that topic of conversation, right then and there. His frown deepened when he decided he didn't want to. "It's kind of a long story..." he offered with a small and pathetic tone, subtly offering her one last chance to back out before he spilled his silly story.

"I'd like to hear it. Who better to share your secrets with than a stranger?"

Was she just a stranger? Uriel's lips curled into a small frown. Of course she was. He briefly remembered the tender embrace they had shared all those months ago, an embrace that made him feel something real for the first time in many years. He had hoped that maybe... she had felt something there, too. But he was just fooling himself, wasn't he? He took another sip of bourbon to make his frown look like a grimace from the alcohol's burn, instead.

"At Nema's wedding, I promised myself I would only have a single glass of wine. I had never drank any more than that, before. But I found myself surrounded by all these happy people, celebrating the culmination of a love Michael and Nema had fought so hard for. It was strange... It felt like a truly happy ending to such a bitter story. But I wasn't a part of it. I felt... miserable, the entire time I was there. I felt... detached. Like I didn't belong," Uriel finished his bourbon and suddenly Serissa was refilling it without another word. He didn't dare to look at her face, terrified of seeing a look of pity. So he continued his sad story. "So I had a second glass. And a third. Then a fourth... with each glass I found it easier to pretend like I was happy. Easier to force a smile. I don't really remember how it happened, but somehow I ended up going home with a former, erm... playmate of Raphael's. Ariel, I think her name was. The next morning, I had a terrible headache, and I felt nothing but unimaginable guilt. Like I had violated something sacred, and yet... I stayed on that path. For the next year, I kept the days blurred with alcohol and any woman who would have me. I was surprised at how easily a woman would come to bed with me... but none would actually love me." Uriel ached to finish his new glass of bourbon, but instead he only swirled the liquid in its glass. "I've always known that that's all I've ever wanted... a love like Raphael and Barbiel's, or Michael and Nema's. But fate, it seems, doesn't want me to have such a thing. I am doomed to live alone."

Uriel felt something akin to deja vu, as he spoke those words. Once, years ago, before Uriel disappeared back into Hades with hard alcohol, he had spoken similar words to Doll. She had tried to encourage him. Tried to get him to realize that he was wrong...

"Perhaps you are," Serissa said, and her response startled Uriel. He was so used to people arguing with his outlook on life, trying to encourage him to see things differently.

He looked at her, and saw that she was smiling softly at him, sadly.

"Have you ever seen the Phantom of the Opera...?" She asked him.

"I've read the book."

"It's my favorite story." Serissa murmured, and a chill went through Uriel's spine when her fingers gently traced of his shoulder. "I like it because the most tragic character doesn't get the girl. He doesn't live happily ever after. And that's real. You just don't really see that anymore... with all these silly and unrealistic romantic comedies and dramas where all the problems get solved in the end."

Uriel frowned as he let her words sink in. How many times had he told himself that he wasn't meant to have a happy ending? He knew exactly what Serissa was trying to tell him, and even though he had told himself the same thing hundreds of times... he didn't like to hear it. Especially from her.

"Hey..." Serissa's hand dropped from the back of the couch and rested on Uriel's shoulder. "It doesn't have to be a bad thing, you know."

"If it's really not so bad, why do I always feel like I'm dying, inside...?"

"You haven't found the thing you need, just yet." Serissa reached out with her free hand and traced a finger around the lip of Uriel's bourbon glass. "Maybe this isn't it? But maybe I can help you forget about it... if only for a little while."

Uriel felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand on end when her fingers traced over the skin of his ear. "What do you mean?"

"Don't be naive." Serissa shifted her position and took Uriel's bourbon, setting it on the end table. She moved her lithe body, placing herself on the floor between his knees. Uriel's blood boiled in his veins when her hands slipped over the tops of his thighs, climbing far too high to be considered something chaste. He wondered if they were sober, would she still would have been doing this? He hadn't traveled along the way of drunken trysts with women in a very, very long time. And the conflicted feelings inside of him were enough to cause a physical pain in his chest.

He wanted whatever her body language was offering. He wanted it badly... but another part of him wanted to run away from her as quickly as he could. Whatever tenderness the two had shared months before would be ruined if he let her...

"Serissa, I don't know about this."

Serissa only continued to slowly slip her hands further up his thighs. "Why?" She said softly. "What's wrong with wanting to feel something when you're not capable of feeling anything at all? I know how you feel... I understand you so well, it hurts. Let me do this for you... for both of us. Just once."

Uriel swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling heated by the thought of what her venom could have in store for him. Perhaps he would only be trading one slow poison for another, but as her hands continued to caress his thighs, and she gazed at him with those amazing hazel eyes, pleading with him... he couldn't say no. He couldn't pull away. He didn't even know how.

"Once..." He murmured, and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to his elbow.

"You won't regret it." Serissa said, her lips curling into a smile.

When Uriel finally glimpsed the tips of her elongated canines, all of his reservations left him in a rush of anticipation and longing. Sweet God, she was beautiful... He extended his bare wrist towards her, and quivered when her gentle hands grasped his arm.

She didn't warn him. In a way, he was grateful that she didn't give him another chance to change his mind. When her sharp teeth pierced the veins in his wrist, his body jerked with the unpleasant, searing pain of broken skin. He almost yanked his arm back.

But then, he felt warmth spread through his hand, and he could feel the venom make its path up his arm, into his chest, and through his entire eager body. The feeling tore a gasp out of his throat, and the necklace around his scarred throat imitated the sound of the moans in his head.

The feeling was similar to the things he had experienced when he had slept with a woman. When he had buried himself between her legs and thrusted until he found his hollow release. Whatever her venom did to him, it intensified the experience tenfold. Despite the numbing alcohol in his system, he felt the pleasure rippling through him, all the way to the tips of his toes.

She took his blood with eager pulls, and his free hand fisted in the strands of her brown hair, urging her on. Encouraging her to take all she needed from him and then some. Some dark and secret part of himself wanted her to bleed him dry, so he could die in the throes of such ecstasy. Unconsciously, his legs tightened against her ribs, his hips rocking on their own.

When she finished, her fangs withdrew from his flesh and her tongue gently licked away the last of the red liquid dribbling from the fresh wound she had left there.

But the feelings raging inside of Uriel did not ebb away. He sat up, pulling at the hair he still held tightly in his fingers. With a soft gasp, her face tilted upwards, so dangerously and blissfully close to his own. He brushed his lips over hers and ignored the strange smell and biting metallic taste of his own blood.

"Don't..." She murmured. "You'll regret it."

Oh, but how he wanted to. He wanted to kiss her. He almost needed it. But somehow, he managed to grasp onto his last threads of sanity, and he slowly released her hair, letting her lean back and away from him.

"I should go." Serissa said softly. "I will see you again tomorrow."

Somehow, Uriel knew that wasn't just a simple goodbye. It was a promise. A promise that she would come to him again... that she needed what she took from him almost as much as he needed to give it.

"Come to me when you get home." Uriel said, his false voice coming out as something gravelly and needy.

Serissa nodded and rose to her feet. She was gone before Uriel could change his mind about letting her leave. But he was grateful. If she had stayed a moment longer, he would have dragged her onto the couch and done... very inappropriate things to her. He would have practiced all the things he had learned about pleasing a woman's body.

With a groan, Uriel leaned forward and ran his fingers through his hair, ignoring the sting in his wrist. What had he just done? What had he just allowed? He knew, then and there, that some kind of barrier had been broken down between the two of them. And he wasn't sure he was ready for it.

Sure, they had connected on some kind of mental level before... before the physical. But somehow, it didn't seem like it was enough. Uriel really didn't want to travel down the path of depraved, sexually charged encounters with her, if he couldn't have...

Uriel shook his head and stood up. What was he thinking? What he wanted, he could never have. Finally, he found someone who agreed with him. Who understood what he had always suspected: That he was doomed to live alone.


	10. Chapter 9

**Layers**

_Chapter Nine_

By: Brenli and Jael

A sleek, black pen twirled in one hand as the other rested over an equally sleek, black mug full of coffee.

"Prime Minister, sir?"

"I'll be in a meeting shortly."

"Of course, sir." The bright-eyed man was already half out of Prime Minister Raziel's office. "I checked in with all secretaries, no messages from any Uprising representatives..."

His head shook slowly as he frowned, clear, blue eyes shutting in frustration.

"There are some other messages-"

"I'll take them after my meeting." For the intern's sake, Raziel put on a smile that was weak at best. "I'll have you called in when it's over. Thank you."

The intern bowed before shutting the door, and Raziel switched off the alarm on his phone just before it could go off. Time for yet another meeting... He pushed open the top of his laptop – sleek, black, like most things in his office – and pulled up the camera. She was always very prompt, her laptop ready to receive his video calls...

This time, a round, pudgy face with big red eyes greeted him, snowy hair pulled up into a pair of little buns. "Raz...!"

That was all the child ever called him, really. Raz, or Raz Raz – she was a big fan of simple sounds repeated twice. "Hey, Bell Bell...! How are you, today?"

"Good!" Isobelle chirped.

A written message suddenly appeared in the chat window below the video feed: 'adga; sdll.' There wasn't much that made Raziel smile, these days, not with events as they were... Thank goodness for Nema's little girl. He allowed the grin to tug on his lips, and a laugh trembled in his words. "That's great...! Is your mother there?" He watched her nod and asked her, "Can you get her for me?"

She nodded again, looking somewhere beyond the screen and calling out, "Mamaaaa...!"

"Thank you, Bell."

The girl merely giggled in reply, the video feed on Raziel's screen shifting strangely. He briefly saw some plush quilts, and realized the laptop had been set on a bed.

"Sorry, Raziel..." Nema's voice could be heard as the laptop was picked up and moved. A blur of walls, a TV with some colorful children's show on it, and finally Nema herself slipped by, as she set her laptop down on her little table. "I was in the middle of tying myself up." He understood as her body came into view, hips first, camera seeming to pan up as she took a seat. A corset hugged her torso, wine red with a silver damask pattern, a silver-winged crest in the center of it.

"Corsets are finally making their return, Nema?"

"Finally, yes."

Raziel sipped his coffee before smiling, this time reserved. "Good to hear. You haven't been out of commission this long before... ever." An uncomfortable frown was shared between them, and he added, "Except for your pregnancies."

His small attempt to skirt around the subject seemed to help, her face lighting up with just the slightest of smiles. "Yes, except for then..." But then she brought everything right back to business. "So they haven't responded to you, have they?"

It wasn't much like Nema to want to stick to business like this... she loved to talk about her home life in a way that was almost obnoxious, in a way that made Raziel have to put a blunt stopper on her chatter at the risk of all her teasing. And yet all of that had disappeared ever since she'd been injured... "No, they haven't. But I'm going to keep trying... They were easy enough to reach, before."

"I'm telling you, they're not going to arrange any more meetings with you, Raziel." Nema spoke quietly. "They're not a special interests group, anymore. They're not protesters, anymore. They became a terrorist organization three months ago, when they attacked us, and they're not stupid enough to assume otherwise."

"They need to answer for the attempt on your life."

"I'm sure they think they already have." She spoke into the cup of tea she lifted to her lips. Still peppermint, to settle her stomach. Just to be safe. "Judging from the way they have their followers doing all the talking, for them."

Raziel paused as she drank her tea, and found himself acting as uncharacteristic as she was. "... Nema, are you doing okay over there?"

She was honest, shaking her head, her teacup clanking against a saucer. "I'm just... I don't know. I'm just _waiting_ for them to come back, and I can't even fucking..." She made little motions with her hands, fingers stretching wide like little bursts, "... at _all_, and I swear to God, Raziel, I am suffering from the _worst_ case of cabin fever ever...!"

He frowned and offered, "We can push this meeting forward-"

"No." Nema insisted. "We're here, now, and I want to stay on top of the Uprising. If this even counts."

Raziel could taste the bitterness coming right through the speakers on his laptop. "Well, until we can get through to their reps, or until they reach out to us, things with the Uprising are... much the same."

"A lot of gloating about me." She said flatly. "Knocked down to their level and all those other things they keep spouting up there."

Clear blue eyes met moody red ones through the screens on their laptops, and a frown creased Raziel's mouth. "You can't let what they say get to you now, Nema. You've been able to keep good face in spite of the smear campaign thus far..."

Her eyes narrowed just slightly. "I have been _violated_. A part of me _stripped_ away. I'll be as upset as I _want_ to be." Her lashes fell over her eyes, and she took a breath in through her nose. "It's a good thing I'm not up there, right now..."

"... I agree." Raziel said quietly. "But... we may need to draft up a written statement for you to release."

"For what?" Nema's pale fingers curled around her teacup and lifted it to her lips. "For their gloating? What am I supposed to say? 'I'm just like you, now, I'm so humbled'?"

"No, they..." He paused and began shuffling through his day planner. "Look, Nema, you're upset. We don't have to have this meeting now..."

"Raziel." The teacup clinked against the saucer, again. "What happened? What do I have to answer for, now?"

He hated the way she worded that... "You don't have to _answer_ for anything, just..."

Nema's mouth pursed into a frustrated pout, her hands flailing just slightly. "Just _talk_ to me, Raziel!"

"The smear campaign has twisted itself, a bit. The followers of the Uprising make claims that... you haven't been knocked down enough pegs."

Her snowy hands drifted out of the screen, settling in her lap as she stared at him with a face more and more sober. "... So... what are they implying here? Death threats?"

"No." He was quick to correct her. "Not death threats. It's the same argument they've been making. That you don't... really understand them. That you're not... 'on their level.'" He quoted the phrase with this fingers.

Red eyes narrowed all over again. "Well I can't be knocked down to their level and _not_ be on their level. They need to make up their minds."

Raziel nodded. "Well... if we can find a more... politically correct way to word that, we can make that your written statement."

"What are they even _asking_ for?" Nema didn't seem to hear him, hissing, ivory strands of hair swaying as she shook her head. "An autobiography?"

"Maybe that couldn't hurt..."

"I'm not writing about my life, Raziel."

"No, you don't need to write a book, but..." He paused, twirled his sleek, black pen in his hand. "... They feel this way because they don't feel like you've... suffered in ways that they have."

"I _haven't_ suffered in ways that they have. I don't know what it's like to live in poverty and starve. I'm not going to lie."

"But that alienates you from them. You need to find a way to get them to relate to you. Then they will feel like you relate to them."

It was times like this when Nema felt like she wasn't cut out to do any of this political gaming... it was too much manipulation for someone as straightforward as her. "Well, Raziel, I don't know how I've suffered in the ways that they have. Classmates in Assiah picked on me for being albino. Rabbit Hunters kept trying to pick me off when the Hunting moved down here. That's literally _it._"

God, Raziel knew this was a horrible idea. He hated every single inch of it, and yet he knew the people in his office were buzzing with the suggestion... "It doesn't have to be that... abstract."

"Well then there's literally _nothing,_ Raziel. Why couldn't the Revolution have been started by me because I felt we deserved freedom and that's _it?_ Why is that just _so hard_ to understand?"

"Well there's... when you were twelve." Raziel could practically taste the bile in the back of his throat.

The exceedingly long silence didn't help.

"There are so many women who were lost during the Hunting because they were ra-"

"I am not talking about what happened when I was twelve."

He frowned as he stared at all the enraged shock that had suddenly flooded her face. And he'd known that would happen, and yet his office kept on entertaining the idea... "You could speak to other survivors-"

"That is _not_ what you said to me. You told me to talk about what happened to me when I was twelve so that I could _win them over!_" Nema's anger had been quiet, hissing, but suddenly her voice raised loud and sharp. "If that's your great idea you can go fuck yourself, Raziel!"

He knew he deserved that... "Nema, I know this isn't my place but-"

"No! It's not! It's so fucking _far_ from your place!"

"Can you hear me out...?"

"_No. _But you can hear _me_ out!" Nema's lips quivered. Oh God, she'd been feeling irritable for months, but this had set her off in a whole other way. It had blindsided her, tore her open and brought too much to the surface. "You cannot take something like _that_ and use it as a _political tool._ You _can't._ Way to take something so horrible you can't even _imagine_ it and take it lightly!"

"That's not what I meant!" Raziel spoke over her, hoping the people in his office weren't getting curious.

"Oh, then what _did_ you mean, Raziel? What makes you think I even _want_ sympathy from people that I _have_ to talk to about my rape-" She paused, her voice cracked, her breath drew in ragged, "... in order to win their support? If that's what it takes, then I'm sorry! No! Let them hate me!"

"But you need their support, Nema!"

"I don't need the support of _anyone_ who's only going to sympathize with me if I talk about my _rape!_"

Raziel turned the volume down on his laptop. "You don't need their support as a _person,_ but you need their support as a _leader!_" Nema breathing had become deep and angry, and Raziel knew he should have listened to the cautious voice that had been whispering in his ear. But too late, now... "That is how politics work. The more important you are, the less you belong to yourself, Nema. They call you the Queen of Rabbits. You have to represent your people." He paused again, allowed her to absorb what he said before he said softly, "I'm sorry I brought up the idea. Everyone here has been suggesting you should do something like this; someone would have brought it up to you at some point. The followers of the Uprising feel like you have no real connection to their plight. You need to-"

"I don't _need_ to talk to _anyone_ about my rape! _Anyone! _And that's my right because it's _my story_ and _my fucking trauma_ and if I don't want to fucking _flaunt_ that shit then _I don't have to, Raziel!_" Nema's cheeks were red with rage. "I can represent our people with my whole heart without having to subject myself to _that!_ Because that piece, that _ugly fucking piece _of me, that's _my piece_ and I can do whatever the Hell I want with it and _no one_ can tell me no!" Her voice had risen into screams, and Raziel had needed to turn the volume on his laptop even lower. "And for a whole race of people who are so horrifyingly familiar with rape, I hope to God they understand that! They _have_ to fucking understand that! If they _don't_, then that's...!" Her voice cracked, the camera caught the shine of tears lining her eyes. "That breaks my heart...!"

The Prime Minister's golden brows furrowed together in sadness. "... Do you need a moment-"

"No, fuck you! If you have something to say just fucking _say_ it, Raziel!" Her voice hitched and whined in all the warning signs of sobbing.

He paused, anyway, before quietly speaking, "... I'm sorry. That was a horrible suggestion."

"You _think?_"

He deserved that. "I'll make sure everyone here knows the idea isn't going to fly. That should stop all the water cooler talk..." He brushed his golden hair off of his forehead and continued with a frown, "I'm just... worried. We need to find a way to get the people's support back up and... I don't have any ideas. And now the Uprising is..."

What else could Nema do but shrug helplessly, still on the edge of tears...? Her ruby eyes focused beyond her laptop, and suddenly her tears slipped free, through her lashes, down her cheeks. "Isobelle's crying; I have to go."

Sure enough, Raziel could hear the beginnings of childlike sobs in the background of Nema's feed. "Go comfort her. We'll work out some kind of written statement later..."

"Bye." Nema was more than through with this conversation, and it showed all over her tear-streaked face. "Bell Bell...!" She called out to her daughter, shutting her laptop and hurrying over to her, even as she cried. "Oh, baby, come here...!" Pale arms reached for pale arms, and Nema lifted her little daughter into a mother's embrace, "Hush hush... no more crying..."

"Mama's mad...!" Isobelle wailed.

"No...!" The lie broke apart in Nema's mouth. She brushed the tip of her snowy-colored nose against Isobelle's, "Mama's not mad...! Mama's not mad, Bell Bell..."

But the girl only reached up and slipped her pudgy hands across her mother's wet cheeks, letting out another wail. "Mama...!"

"Shhhhhh shh shh..." What else could Nema do but comfort her daughter and let that comfort flood back into her? God, she needed the embrace just as much as Isobelle did. She needed to bounce her in her arms just slightly and cry and coo, "Mama's okay... Mama's okay..."

A knock on her door momentarily shook her, and she sniffed back her tears as she crossed the room to answer it. "Oppa..." was already on her lips as she pulled the door open. She had many visitors daily, but her oppa always seemed to stop in a little before lunch, hoping to catch her for tea... even if his tea was always heavily laced with blood.

"Nemaelle...!" The concern flowed smoothly from his tan lips as he stepped in and shut the door behind him. "What's wrong?" Mother and daughter both crying...? Something must have happened...!

"It's nothing..." Nema tried to brush it off, even as two more tears made lines along the curves of her face.

Jinho wasn't convinced, reaching out a white gloved hand to delicately brush his fingers along the crown of Isobelle's head. "You're both so upset-"

"I don't wanna talk about it right now, oppa." Nema's voice was a careful mix of firm and smooth, toeing the line between being forceful and not ruining Isobelle's mood even more than it already was... "Maybe later."

He honored her demand with a small, sad smile and a short bow of his head. "After tea, perhaps?"

"Perhaps," She said weakly, but she knew in her heart that she just... couldn't talk to him about this. She could be as open as ever about the Uprising and things with Raziel and so much of her life, but... that day, when she was twelve...

It was nothing against the Gehenna Vampire, but if she was going to talk to anyone about what had just transpired, she was going to talk to Michael, when his training session with Lilith was over. Michael was the only person she _could_ talk to about that day, though she hated the guilt that still crossed his face when she did. But he listened and he held her and he never treated her any differently for those rare moments when she'd ended up crying to him about what had happened... He was everything she needed. She liked to tell him it was the little bit of Guardian Angel left over in him. He liked to tell her that didn't make any sense, but if his smile meant anything, he loved that idea just as much as she did...

"There's your smile." Jinho spoke quietly, that small smile of his growing. "Maybe we should further distract you from whatever it is that's left the both of you in tears... Maybe we should go outside and watch Michael and Lilith train."

The suggestion spurred a laugh from Nema's lips, and she rolled her eyes as Isobelle sniffled and snuggled against her mother's chest, her head resting on Nema's pale shoulder. "And listen to Lilith whine the whole time?"

A corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked smile, a smile that came off just as charming as all his other smiles. "She's never had to learn to defend herself, Nema..."

"I'm not judging her for that." Her boots crossed the room, and she reached out with her free arm to pull aside the curtains falling over one of her windows. "It's just... the _whining_." She laughed, looking over her shoulder at him. "I know Michael is a tough teacher, but you'd think that by now she knows the whining is useless."

"I'm sure she knows." Jinho said simply as he stood beside her, looking down into the courtyard. He spotted the crown of Nathan's head, sunlight making his messy, ivory hair seem to glow. Further away, Michael and the former Dragonmaster were in the midst of sparring, Lilith's champagne blonde strands pulled back into a sloppy bun made even more sloppy from the hours of training in the heat. "But it's a habit for her to be vocal."

Another laugh bubbled up and out of Nema. "Being vocal... Oppa, you're too nice. She sounds like a banshee...!"

The Gehenna Vampire's smile grew, happy to see Nema's previous sadness – whatever had caused it – fading fast. "Oh, that's not fair to say-"

"_I am trying, you feathery-winged psychopath!"_

The pair cringed in the windowsill, and Nema scoffed, "Yeah, not fair to say at all..."

xXxXxXx

"It sure doesn't feel like you're fucking trying!" The War Angel sent Lilith flying, her brown boots scraping across the dirt and grass. "Three fucking _months_ we've been at this, Princess! Are you just too stupid to learn anything?"

"Fuck you!" Lilith snapped back at him, her honey-toned fingers touching the ground as the skidding stopped and she regained her balance. "I'm learning!"

"You've learned how to not fall _over!_" Michael hadn't even so much as broken a sweat, though they'd been out there training for hours, under the heat of the Sun. "I guess I should find that impressive. Giant fucking tits like those; it's surprising you don't fall on your face all the time!"

An angry scream tore from her mouth as she ran at him, but just like every other time before, he stood and waited for her. When Lilith crashed into him, all fists and fury, Michael only smirked and blocked her blows, maneuvering right through them and closing in on her. For the briefest of moments, she could feel the breath on her cheek, hear the snickering in her ear...

Before she knew what hit her, he'd grabbed her by her arms and tossed her right over his head. She just barely managed to land on her feet, but she still crumbled to the ground, growling and glaring at him. "Quit _dancing_ with me!" She hissed.

"Quit dancing with _me!_" Michael retorted. "You're the one running at me all hands and flailing. The fuck are you trying to do? Hug me?" He stretched his arms over his head, planting his feet on the ground before motioning at her, "Get up! Come at me again!"

Again she charged at him. This time, he tripped her, one hand pushing hard against her chest and sending her right into the ground.

He crouched down, leaning over her with moody blue-green eyes. "I didn't say _throw_ yourself at me. I said _come at me!_" He shoved her into the dirt and stood up, brushing his hands off and backing away several paces, to a sloppy pile of water bottles. "Again!" Michael clearly wasn't threatened, or even really invested in this training session, anymore. He cracked open a bottle and took a deep gulp or two.

Lilith groaned and sat up, frowning as she watched a little stream of water escape the corner of his lips. Watched him wipe the clear, shining trail away with the back of his hand...

"I don't have all day, Princess!"

"Why can't you shut up and be _patient?_" The Evil snapped as she scrambled to her feet, trying to shake her mind clear, but she knew better. Michael seemed to move and think and _do_ everything mile-a-minute, no breaks in between... and he was the worst when he was training her, figuratively and literally running her right into the ground...

"Hey!" Michael ignored the way she jumped. He figured she would have gotten used to him revealing his wings and crossing the yard with a single sweep of them... he'd _been_ doing that for three whole months, after all. "No one's gonna be patient when they're trying to kill you. They aren't gonna stand around and wait for you when they knock you on your ass, Lilith!" She stumbled backwards, and he merely followed her, closing in, ignoring the fact that she was several inches taller than him and glaring sternly at her. "They're going to come in close and they're going to _slaughter_ you. They don't _care_ enough about you to wait for you! Understand?"

She hated when he got in close like this, screaming at her... She hated the way it made her face burn. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised. Fire Angel, and all... "But _you're_ not going to kill me!" A gasp suddenly tore from her throat when his hands shot out, curling into the straps of her beige tank top and briefly shaking her.

"Well you need to _treat_ me like I am." He held her there and he waited, eyes piercing into her own.

Lilith's face definitely felt like it was on fire, now... Somehow it was a lot more comfortable to focus on the blue dragon etched onto Michael's face, on the line of it, curling from his cheek and on down his neck. Her golden hands weakly pulled on his, trying to get him to release her. They felt sweaty against his own.

He shook her again, his eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you taking _any _of this seriously?"

"I-I...!"

"_Are you taking this seriously?"_ His voice was suddenly a booming bellow in her ears, low and rough.

"I am!" Lilith cried, her breath short, still weakly trying to peel his hands off of her top.

"_Do you want to die?"_

"No!" She screamed at him, endured him shaking her a third time.

"Then _fight!_" He finally released her with a hard shove, stomping away, his white wings twitching in derision before disappearing. "Again!" He commanded before he'd even reached the other end of their space, before he'd even turned around to look at her.

An uncomfortable, tense shudder flooded her body, and Lilith hated it. This was no way for her body to react to any of this... she _missed_ being short and scrawny and knobby-kneed. She understood that body so much better than this one...! Flustered, uneasy anger propelled her forward, a cry erupting from her throat as she sprinted, lunged, dared to land a kick on him.

His hands were briefly wrapped around her thigh, and despite herself, she shivered...

And then he'd thrown her to the ground in a pitiful heap, and gave her a frustrated snarl. "Again!"

She was back on her feet in seconds. She managed to dodge past his fists, to tackle him around his waist. For the briefest of moments she had him... until he kicked her, threw her right over his head before his back even hit the ground. The pair scrambled to regain their balance.

"Almost...!"

A rare smile lit his face, and Lilith hated the way her heart thudded heavy in her chest... Suddenly she was kissing dirt, knocked over, pinned.

"Dammit, Lilith!" Whatever brief satisfaction Michael had found was gone. He roughly shoved her into the grass and soil, stood up and yelled once more, "Again!"

She almost had him, for once... But then her stupid heart in her stupid body had to...! Again, she tried. Again, he tossed her to the ground like she was nothing...

"_Again!"_

Lilith had enough. "I'm done! I quit!"

"You don't have the _luxury_ of quitting, Princess!"

"I said I'm _done!_" The Evil cried out in rage, her arm swinging out as if to banish him. She wished she could have. Then maybe her body would stop being ridiculous...!

Her vision was blinded by a great big wave of orange and gold and red, following the arc her arm had made. Her hearing went deaf with gasps and cries...

"Dad...!" From that obnoxious little Rabbit boy's mouth.

"_Michael!"_ From the War Angel's wife, who had thrown open the window as soon as the flame had erupted from Lilith's own hand.

As soon as the fire had appeared, it died down, Michael waving one arm over the yard. His blue-green eyes were wide and bewildered. "Holy... _shit!_" The War Angel's hand closed around the smoldering ends of the ponytail trailing from the nape of his neck, killing the fire that singed his hair.

From the open window, Lilith saw Nema share a shocked, worried glance with Jinho, and then the Vampire was gone in a flash. "Fuck! I'm sorry!" Lilith swore and frowned and waited for Michael's retaliation, whatever it might be. She couldn't ever be sure how horribly he'd lash out. He'd hit her for less than this...

But a rough... _pleased_ laugh left his lips. "Sorry? Fuck no! Bring the fire out again! Things finally got interesting!"

… _What?_ Lilith blinked confused, dark red eyes at him as she sat there on the ground, seeing the smile on his face, feeling the thumping of her heart.

"Michael-sama...!" Jinho had left Nema's room to come down into the yard, his smooth voice speaking quickly with concern. "Are you all right?"

Michael's red brows arched, and he grinned. "I'm the fucking Fire Angel; of course I'm all right!" He pointed at the former Dragonmaster and spoke with laughter, "What I want to know is, why the Hell wasn't _this_ brought to my attention?"

"I-I've never been able to, before...!" Lilith stammered, wide-eyed, confused. "They... they said my mother could, but I..!"

A confused frown creased Michael's lips, and his eyes met ink-black ones as Jinho explained, "From what I have heard... the manipulation of an element is a gift bestowed by the Shinryu to any who is or has been a Dragonmaster... but it must be nurtured. The late Queen Kurai fought hard and often..."

"... But not pampered Princess Lilith." Michael rolled his eyes. "Figures."

"Shut up!" Lilith snapped at the Angel, her lips pursed into a moody pout, scrambling to a stand. "And how do you even _know_ this stuff?" She directed her question at the Gehenna Vampire, whose head tilted just slightly.

"The Elder Council told me so, when they were..."

"Oh. When they were selling me to you." She said flatly.

Jinho's shoulders slumped, barely discernible, at her choice of words, but Michael laughed loud before he could think of any reply for her.

"Well it's a damn good thing these past three months haven't been a _complete _waste of time!" He grinned, and spoke over Lilith's attempt at a rebuttal. "Okay, change of plans!" Michael strode over, reaching out his hands. "But first things first. Give me your arm."

Lilith took a half-step backward. "Why?"

"Give me your arm!" He grabbed it and pulled her forward, making her stumble in her brown boots. "Ready?"

"Ready f- _ow!_" Lilith immediately hissed and recoiled when Michael snapped his fingers, a little arc of flame seeming to splash at her flesh. She shoved him away and was alarmed that fire burst from between her fingers, and yet the flames did nothing to his skin.

Jinho stepped forward, a cry on his lips, "Lili-"

"_Relax!_ I'm just figuring this shit out real quick!" Michael grabbed her arm again, staring at the spot of golden skin that had turned just slightly pink. A corner of his mouth pulled back in an inquisitive, curious quirk, "Okay. You're not as awesome as I am, then. Buuuuuut you're close." He released her arm with a smile, unaware of how her heart thudded heavily all over again. "Okay, Jinho, you need to get the fuck out of here. You might get roasted."

Jinho blinked wide, unsure eyes. "But Lilith is not immune to flame that she hasn't created herse-"

Michael cut him off with a laugh. "I'm not gonna burn anything but some fucking foliage or something! It's _Lilith_ I'm trying to protect your ass, from!" He grinned and clapped a hand on Jinho's shoulder before shoving him back toward the house. "You too, come on." He motioned at his son with a jerk of his head, reaching out to ruffle Nathan's white hair.

"But I was watching...!" Nathan grumbled with a pout.

"Go up and watch with your mother; I can't have you out here, right now." Michael nodded up at the window and caught his wife's gaze. "Think I'll be out here longer than usual, today!"

Nema only smiled, but deliberately ran her snowy hand along the front of her corset. The three months he'd been spending training Lilith had also been three months... with no sex, no tangled limbs, no halfhearted attempts to muffle moans. But today she'd felt well enough to cinch herself in with steel boning. Surely, that was a positive sign...?

Michael grinned knowingly as Nathan ran back into the mansion, Jinho trailing after him. All these years together and sometimes she still seemed like she'd be the death of him... He was slow to take his eyes from her, but as soon as he did, the War Angel in him took the reigns again. "All right, Princess, get your ass where I'm standing! If you're gonna burn anything it's not gonna be the damn _house!_"

Lilith gave him a cat-eyed, confused glance, but obeyed, crossing paths with him as they switched places. "What are you trying to get me to do?"

"New method! You're learning things at a fucking _crawl;_ maybe working on your fire is where we _should_ be starting!"

The Evil wasn't sure if this was a great idea... "But I only just _now_-"

"You know the drill!" Michael spoke over her gruffly. "Come at me. No holds barred. I want you to try and kick my ass, Princess! And this time you're gonna use your fire to do it!"

"But I don't even know _how_ I'm-"

"Come at me!"

Lilith blinked and found herself stomping her brown boot against the ground. "Michael, you're not _listening_ to me!"

"Did you seriously just stomp your foot at me, _Princess?_" Michael scoffed. "Come at me! Come at me or I'll _make_ you come at me!"

"But I-" Lilith did not have the chance to say anything else, suddenly dodging a wide and wild stream of fire. "Michael...!" Why wasn't he listening to her?

"Fight me!" He closed in on her, fire bursting all along his arms as he swung at her. The same brawling as before, but even more deadly, the fire an extension of himself she scrambled to run away from. "Fight me or I'll burn you alive!"

Desperation drove her to block a blow, though it meant moving through the fire... and found that the strange wave of fire returned, arcing with her blows, washing over Michael's arm.

"Keep going!"

She was only blocking him, and yet the pleased smile from earlier curled on his lips... Again with the heavy heart-thumping. Her body confused her endlessly... But she tried to ignore her confusion, tried to push back against all of Michael's speedy blows. Her fiery hand planted against his chest, and she actually managed a kick to his torso, forcing him back.

He didn't allow her any time to fully realize her success, immediately pouncing forward with a cry leaving his mouth. The first time he'd ever released a little battle cry like that... The first time he put forth real effort. "Don't let me down, now, Lilith!" He snarled as he managed to slip behind her, to place a kick of his own between her shoulder blades.

Lilith's flaming hands planted themselves on the ground, the grass burning into dried, black and ashy blades in the earth, and Michael descended to pin her. Before she could make sense of what she was doing, her boot connected with his chest again, and for the first time, she kicked him right over her head.

"Yes!" Michael found himself laughing, and he hurried in to continue sparring with her. They were all fiery fists and hard boots, and Lilith could see him seeming to mouth something to himself as they continued fighting. Eventually she was able to read his lips... 'I see... I see...'

How in the Hell was he managing to _analyze_ her while they fought so wildly? And yet, Lilith knew this was no time to wonder anything. They both may have suffered from a little singed hair here, a little burn on clothing there, but she was the one whose skin wasn't impervious. She was surprised she didn't have any burns to go with the small one he'd purposely left on her as a test...

Suddenly fire raged orange and gold all around her, and she let out a fierce cry as she rushed right through it... landing a hit to Michael's face... forcing him back against a tree.

"Whoa...!" The hit didn't seem to affect him much, but he paused the fight nonetheless, one hand planted against the trunk of the tree while the other waved in a wide, swift arc across the air.

Suddenly Lilith realized that Michael had paused the fight to save the _tree_ from being incinerated.

Suddenly Lilith realized that she was still standing near the wall of orange and gold. That she hadn't run straight through Michael's flames... she'd run through her own. She stood there, fists clenched, wide-eyed, chest heaving from exertion, watching Michael stand there with one hand on the tree, the other held out to stop her. His own chest was heaving... she'd actually managed to exhaust him? Even if only slightly? She blinked rapidly, looking down at herself, looking back up at him...

That wonderful smile lit up his face, and for the first time in three long, grueling months of training, he finally said it... "Good!"

Heat touched her face, that strange, tingling internal heat, and she found herself smiling with him. _Finally_ she'd managed to please him...!

"Again!"

xXxXxXx

The hours had passed so much faster than Michael could have ever anticipated... How had the sun set so fast? How had night come upon them so soon? It really wasn't fair. For the first time since he'd started training this brat, he was actually _enjoying_ himself...! Nonetheless, he called it. "All right, we're calling it a night!"

"Aw, why?" Lilith finished off the last water bottle with a sigh, "You're not getting tired already, are you?"

He scoffed, but smirked, "You fucking wish!" His fist tapped her shoulder. "You wait till tomorrow; your body's gonna hate you."

It felt good to not be at his throat for once, since the day she'd _met_ him... "So what are you saying? No training tomorrow?" The idea was absurd... and, surprisingly, unwelcome. For the first time, Lilith had enjoyed his company. Spending time without him sent some strange hollow feeling through her torso... Her body needed to stop doing these things.

Michael laughed. "Are you fucking kidding? We've been at this every day for three months; I'm not stopping now just because you finally improved a little!"

Heat touched her face and filled her up, right down to her toes. Her body just wouldn't stop doing these things... "Same time, then...?"

"Same time. So you get your ass to sleep; we're meeting back here in 7 hours." He grumbled as he tapped the light on his phone, the time popping up at him.

"Yeah, yeah..." Before Lilith knew what she was doing, she'd bumped him with the generous curve of her hip as she passed him. Outright _glee_ flooded her... She was confused, but... she almost didn't _want_ her body to stop doing these things... She bit her lip, one fang pressing against the flesh, and she hurried off. "Later...!" She waved over her shoulder. Oh, she couldn't look at him... She wished she could talk to the Shinryu. She _needed_ to talk to Jade about this...

Michael's brows had furrowed together at her parting contact, but he only snorted and shook his head. He'd never admit it to the bratty Princess, but yes, he was pretty damn beat... A yawn left his throat, and he looked up at the window that had been left propped open. He'd been so absorbed in sparring and analyzing and teaching Lilith, he didn't even know when his family had left the window, but the lights were all off...

He was quiet as he snuck into their room, the door clicking shut behind him. Quiet, but quick about showering off. God, he could almost just sleep in the damn tub, he was so exhausted...! He shut off the water and was so tired he simply stood there for a few moments, hands planted on the porcelain tiles that lined the walls, water dripping off of his hair, trailing down his body.

"You should turn the water back on."

Michael jumped, not having heard her so much as open the bathroom door. A true testament to how sleepy he was... Nema giggled softly as she slid open the glass door. She was every bit as naked as he was, and he chuckled back, "You're crazy."

"But you love that I'm crazy..." A coy smile curled her lips, and she insisted quietly, "Come on... the kids won't hear over the water. We-" Her words melted into a moan, muffled under the weight of his kiss...

"I have to be up in 7 hours, Nema..." His forehead rested against hers, "More like 6, now..."

"So take me hard... and fast..."

He sighed, smiled, but shook his head. "Not tonight..." He stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and quickly drying off his hair.

"Why?" The ache inside of Nema dripped from that single word, pulling her lips into a sudden frown.

"I already told you, Nema. I've gotta be up early. Just like yesterday, just like _every_ day." He gave her a confused frown of his own as he wrapped the towel around his waist.

"So take the day off." Her pale arms crossed over her chest.

"Nema, I'm not arguing with you about this. I'm fucking _tired._ I've been out there for over 12 hours. I haven't even had _dinner!_" He reached for the bathroom door, but Nema slipped in front of him, pressing her bare back against the cool wood.

"So isn't that even more reason to just take the day off?"

This time, his sigh was aggravated. "I _can't_ take the day off; I'm finally _getting_ somewhere with that brat...!"

"I saw. She nearly burned your hair right off."

"See, that's why I need to work on her even _harder_."

Nema's hands rested on his chest as she found herself... pleading with him. "You can take one day off, Michael. It's not going to ruin _everything_..." Her hands slipped down his torso, trailing every line his muscles made, slipping lower...

He caught her hands in his. "You know as well as I do that one day means a whole fucking _lot,_ Nema. It's not like we know when your fucking Uprising friends are going to pop up next!"

"_My_ fucking Uprising _friends?_" Try as she might to keep her voice low, to not rouse their children, she failed in that moment, snapping, glaring ruby-red daggers at him.

Michael shook his head, squeezed her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm tired."

She sighed and leaned forward to leave a line of kisses down the line of his tattoo, down his cheek, along his neck. "You need to relax..."

He reached out and pulled the door open, the air rushing in cold and almost sharp against their skin. He marched out into the darkness, heading for the door to their bedroom. "I _need_ to sleep."

Nema wanted to just... whine at him. "It's been three months..." She murmured as she quickly grabbed the black button-down shirt, slipping her arms through the sleeves.

"I _know_ how long it's been, Nema...!" He turned and snapped at her, realizing how loud his voice cut through the night air. He looked at her as she stood there, the shirt unbuttoned, the ache written all over her face, even in the dark. He took a breath and tried to keep his voice low, running an irritated hand through his half-dry hair. "... I need to sleep, Nema. I really do."

Nema looked down at her little bare feet and bit back all of her frustration. "... Okay."

He frowned and reached out, beckoning her forward. "Come here..." He pulled her into bed with him, held her, his skin pressed against hers...

… But it wasn't enough for her. She wanted more, ached for more. Nema bit her lip to keep the frown off of her face, her fingers trailing along his chest as she recounted her day... honestly? A horrible one. Fighting with Raziel and now fighting with Michael... All the words played through in her head, and the memory of this morning in particular sent tears to her eyes all over again. "... Michael?"

"Sleep, Nema..." His voice was already sluggish and lethargic.

Her lip quivered. She wanted to talk, at least... she needed to talk. "Earlier today-"

"Nema." Her name was a rumble in his chest.

She went silent, just like he wanted... blinking back tears and trying not to think about that morning and that evening and her burning need for him... willing herself to sleep.


	11. Chapter 10

**Layers**

_Chapter Ten_

By: Brenli and Jael

Uriel lay awake in his bed, staring at the dark blue canopy of his four poster bed in a fruitless attempt to sleep. On his bedside table sat a full and forgotten glass of Jack Daniels, watered down from melted ice, the outside dripping with condensation. Beside the glass, the red numbers of his alarm clock glowed a soft 11:30pm.

The time marked nearly twenty four hours since he had returned to his room after his... talk with Serissa. Twenty four hours since she had tasted his blood and left him hungry for a bit more. He remembered their pact to see each other again that night, and the thought of it had turned the taste of Jack sour in his mouth.

He threw the covers off his legs and tightened the string of his black silk pants. Something didn't feel quite right...

xXxXxXx

"Judas, it's almost midnight," Serissa said, sweeping her hair back and out of her tired eyes. "What are you doing here?"

The Vampire King only smiled, slipping his hands into the pockets of his custom tailored suit. "You haven't come to see me in a while. I thought I should come and check on you and your... children."

Serissa bristled. "The kids are asleep." His mentioning of the children made Serissa rightfully uneasy. Judas had always been the type of man to exploit weaknesses... and he knew better than anyone, that her children were her Achilles' Heel. She knew Judas well enough to recognize and predict what would follow that sadistic glint in his eye.

"As most children should be, at this hour."

"What do you want?" Serissa's hazel eyes narrowed suspiciously. She dropped her purse onto the table beside the front door.

"I want to know where you've been. I want to know why you haven't been checking in with me."

"I've been busy. Between running your Safe House and cleaning up the messes your guests keep making, I haven't had time."

"Such a temper you have, tonight. You've fed from a vein recently, haven't you?"

"Yes. I have." That much wasn't hard to admit. Judas couldn't have done a thing to harm Uriel, being Assiahbound. His hatred for anything Angel was nothing more than a deep-seated jealousy and fear of what he couldn't control.

"Ah. And who is the lucky man, I wonder?"

"None of your goddamned business." Serissa muttered. "Judas, please. I'm tired. Just tell me what you want so I can go to sleep."

"Fair enough." Judas kept that perpetual smile on his, a type of smile he always had when he looked at her. A strange look of amusement and condescension. "How old is Aaron, now?"

The pause that followed was painfully long, as Serissa stared at Judas with a cold feeling seeping into her bones. "He'll be _ten_, next month." She emphasized his age with a slight crack in her voice.

"Perfect." Judas smiled wider, his eyes glittering with a secret malice. "He will be old enough for me to take under my wing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've always wanted a protege. He would be perfect, I think."

"But he's a _child,_ Judas. You can't just take him away from his sister, or from me."

"I can do whatever I want to do, _Serissa_." He emphasized her name in a way that sent a violent shiver up her spine... but it wasn't because of fear, anymore.

"... Why do you still hate me so much? After all this _time_?"

"You know exactly why."

"All these years, you've been punishing me. And I've taken it with no complaint... you _can't _drag Aaron into this."

"I can, and I will. Because I know how much it will hurt you."

Serissa saw red. She charged forward, all anger and shouts. She should have known better... As soon as she was in arm's reach, Judas reached out with a clenched fist and struck her across the jaw. Seeing stars, she fell back and slammed into a shelf of knick knacks in her foyer, pieces falling to the floor and shattering. She grunted when she felt his hand around her throat.

She couldn't remember the last time she had truly been _afraid_ of Judas... Even then, with his hands wrapped around her throat, she felt no fear. But for the first time in a very long time, she felt something.

Burning rage.

It would have been easy, so so easy to fight back for once. Fight back and show Judas that she was much stronger than he thought she was. And in that moment, she did more than just consider it. Her fists clenched tight and her body coiled to spring...

A dark-skinned hand came out of nowhere and clamped tightly around Judas' wrist. Serissa gasped for air when he was dragged away from her.

With a look of shock on her bruising face, Serissa watched as Uriel caught Judas with three hard strikes to his face and one a final blow to the stomach. Judas had no time to react before he was left dazed and dizzy, hunched over his chest as he struggled to reclaim air that was knocked out of him.

Uriel pulled him straight just so he could look at Judas' face, just so Judas could see the look of pure murder in his stormy green eyes. "Put your hands on her again," He said, his false voice a low and threatening growl. "I'll kill you."

He shoved Judas away so roughly that the ever-graceful Judas stumbled. With an indignant cough and a glare, Judas straightened his suit jacket and gently dabbed at his freshly split eyebrow. "Made a friend in a high place, I see," Judas said, tossing a nasty glare at Serissa.

Uriel held out an arm, just to sweep Serissa protectively behind him, using his body as a shield to block her from Judas' killer look. "Get out of here," He sneered. "Don't let me catch you around here, again."

Tension crackled in the air, so thick it was nearly suffocating. Still too shocked to speak, Serissa's fingers gently laced into the back of Uriel's flimsy white shirt.

"I'll be seeing you soon enough, _Serissa_."

Uriel didn't take his eyes off of Judas until he left and the door closed behind him. When it finally latched after what felt like an eternity of agonizing tension, Uriel spun around, and cupped Serissa's face tenderly in his hands to assess the damage to her lip. "Are you okay...?"

"You didn't have to do that," Serissa said quietly.

"The Hell I didn't... Come on." He took her by the hand and lead her away.

xXxXxXx

A short time later, Serissa was sitting on the counter of a sterile white bathroom, slouching horribly. The strap of her dress had fallen off one shoulder, the hem of it was hitched a little higher than what made Uriel comfortable. He tried desperately to keep himself from focusing on that exposed thigh of hers. Instead, he tried to rationalize what he had done to Judas. He had never been a particularly violent man. Truth be told, he hated violence. But when he saw Judas' slimy hands around Serissa's throat like that...? It called up a fire within him that he didn't even know he still had.

"Keep the ice against your lip, Serissa." Uriel murmured, as one hand slowly pulled her dress back down over exposed thigh, and the other moved her hand and the ice pack back against her swelling mouth.

"I don't know why you're bothering. " She said miserably, watching him open the first aid kit he placed beside her. "It'll be healed up by tomorrow night."

"That doesn't matter." Uriel said softly. "I hate seeing you like this..."

"There isn't anything you can do."

"Maybe that's true. But that doesn't mean I don't want to try." Frowning, Uriel pulled a piece of gauze out of the open first aid kit sitting beside her on the counter. "What does he want with Aaron?"

"To keep him as a damn pet," Serissa said savagely, blinking hopeless tears out of her eyes. "He wants to hurt me by taking him away. Judas knows exactly what those kids mean to me..."

"Why is he doing this to you...?"

Serissa sighed and gingerly touched the wound on her lip. "It's complicated."

Uriel took her hand in an attempt to keep her from touching the open wound. "I'd like to hear about it..." His touch was as tender as his voice as he silently pleaded with her, almost desperate to know more about the weight on Serissa's shoulders.

"Perhaps another time?" Serissa said, the corner of her mouth lifting into a crooked and pathetic smirk.

"I'll hold you to that." Uriel returned her sad attempt at a smile and set back to work, gently dabbing away the extra blood on her mouth.

"I would walk through fire to protect those children from anything and everything that would hurt them." Serissa said after a long pause. Her eyes were slightly glazed, and Uriel watched her speak, wondering if she even remembered he was standing in front of her. "But I don't know why I even bother. I can't protect them forever... soon this life will betray and destroy them from the inside out and there isn't a damn thing I can do to stop it... And they'll be just as miserable as everybody else is."

Uriel felt an uncomfortable pinch in his chest as he listened to what she said. True, he knew exactly what Serissa thought about life and it's general hopelessness... but to see her losing faith in the innocence of the children she cared so much for...? He wasn't prepared for how it tore him up inside.

"Serissa. Look at me..." Uriel took her face in his hands, tilting her gaze up to meet his. He brushed tears off of her cheeks. It horrified him to see her crying, and he wondered if she had been crying the whole time she sat on the counter, and he just hadn't noticed. "Shhh... Listen to me. I don't believe you for a second, you know. I see you fight to keep those kids happy everyday. And that's more than you... or me ever had. They're going to live an amazing life because of _you_. And that's worth fighting for." He forced a soft smile for her. "So don't give up. Don't _ever _stop fighting for them."

Serissa's lips parted in a soft sigh, her tear-filled eyes gazing up at him with a look he dared to call awe. "You have no idea how much it means... for you to say that to me."

And in that moment, in her vulnerability, she had never looked more beautiful. Uriel's hand cupped the back of her neck, and he thrust his mouth against hers, wound be damned.

He expected her to shove him back. To slap him across his presumptuous face and curse him for being so bold... but she didn't. She exploded against his kiss, her hands gripping his shoulders to pull him closer, tighter. And in that moment, Uriel hoped he could have been honorable enough to stop them both... but he wasn't. A hunger inside of him fanned into a flame, and suddenly his hands were wandering all over her body, touching, pulling at her dress. He kissed her hard enough for their teeth to clash together, and she only moaned and pressed harder against his mouth. Between beats of their fiery and wild kiss, he released soft and desperate groans.

He felt the erotic sting of her nails against his skin, and it felt better than anything he could have imagined. A sweet and pleasurable pain that only fueled his desire.

His hands worked to her hips as he pulled her off the bathroom counter, pulled her to the other side of the room. He pushed her against the floor length mirror, towards it, and her breath misted the cold glass surface.

What was he doing? This was so fast. So wrong...!

"Don't stop...!" Serissa moaned, her voice a strained whimper.

Something primitive had taken over his mind, his body. His fingers ripped through the delicate fabric of her panties, and he tossed them carelessly aside. Meshing his fingers with hers, he pinned her palms to the glass. He nudged her thighs apart with his knee.

So close... so achingly close.

Through the haze of desperate lust, Uriel managed to grasp at his final thread of sanity. This was so fast... did she even really want it?

He gently bit the flesh of her shoulder, his tongue worked over the sting. "Tell me you want me," he whispered huskily into her ear.

"I want you...!"

Her response was so quick. Just as husky, pleading... desperate. But still, he hesitated. This was insane... all of it. So dirty and shameful.

"Please," was her small cry, her desperate form of begging.

And that was it. He slipped the band of his silk pants over and beneath his aching erection. He pushed inside her, and their combined cries of rapture fogged against the mirror. Their fingers clenched tighter as Uriel's hips rocked hard against her. Again, their cries rose together.

Uriel had never experienced such perfection. Such pleasure. Such exquisite wetness clamped so tightly around him. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled that sweet, flowery scent. He listened to her moaning, her soft cries of pleasure.

How he had missed this. The rushing feelings. The excitement. The racing pulse. He felt alive again, like he wasn't a ghost. And yet the injustice of it made him want to weep.

Was this all he was meant for?

Serissa melted against him, her body turning into putty under his hands, and he supported her weight against the mirror.

She let out a strangled cry, "Har-der...!"

Everything male in him was eager to comply. He took her arms and pulled her away from the mirror. A heartbeat later, they were back against the counter. Uriel put a hand on the back of her neck and bent her over. The first aid kit clattered into the sink as it was swept aside. She eagerly lay forward and he pushed deeper inside her, giving her as much of him as she could take.

She spasmed and her cries echoed through the bathroom, and Uriel clamped a hand over her mouth, his chest pressing against her back to trap her. "Shh...!" He hissed in her ear, and yet his physical motions never let up, as though he were secretly challenging her. Making silence impossible. And he didn't mind. He kept his hand pressed tightly over her mouth, hunching over her, thrusting hard enough to bruise her hips against the hard edge of the counter.

His free arm wrapped tightly around her stomach, holding her body right where he needed it to stay. His mouth found her cheek and his teeth scraped the flesh over her jaw, his own strained cries mixing with her muffled ones. He could see her face in the reflection of the mirror in front of them, and he loved the look of her half-lidded eyes. Of the ecstasy that resided in them.

Sooner than he had hoped, he felt the familiar tingle in his thighs. He welcomed the feeling, relished in it as he let it take him over. His arms clenched impossibly tighter around her body as he climaxed, his final thrusts punishing.

As the madness finally settled and Uriel's arms loosened around her, he listened to her labored breathing. He pressed his cheek against the base of her neck. The reality of what he had just done to her rested in his chest and grew impossibly heavy... painful, even. What had he done...?

He pulled away from her, and when her dress slipped back into place, when his limp and spent erection slipped out of her, she moaned again. Her legs wobbled and she supported her own weight against the counter.

Catching her gaze in the mirror, guilt exploded in his chest like a bomb. "I'm... I'm so sorry...!"

He wanted to run, so he did. His feet carried him out of the bathroom and as far away from her as they could. His legs felt nearly collapsed beneath him, riding the aftereffects of his orgasm. How could he do that to her? What kind of a sick monster _was_ he?

After all she had just been through... to take advantage of her like that? To treat her with such disrespect...? She deserved better. So much better...

Uriel locked himself in his room and leaned against the door. He closed his eyes and didn't bother to keep his self-loathing at bay. Somehow, he felt like whatever he had with Serissa, he had just ruined. He had just torn it apart and burned the pieces.

He slumped to the floor, uninterested in climbing into bed. Uninterested in going back to Serissa to apologize again and again. He wanted to disappear into that floor and never be seen again.

xXxXxXx

"Chiyo, what are you doing out here?"

The young Rabbit girl looked up from hands folded in her lap. Serissa stood over her with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, shielding her from an early morning chill. The sun hadn't risen yet, and even Lilith and Michael hadn't emerged to perform their normal morning training. Chiyo frowned when the first thing she noticed was a scab on Serissa's lip. Seeing wounds like that periodically on Serissa's body was certainly nothing new, but it never ceased to anger Chiyo.

"... Are you okay?" Chiyo asked, her voice careful and calm.

"I'm fine."

Chiyo knew she was lying. As much as Serissa tried to hide the turmoil inside of her from Chiyo and her 'siblings', Chiyo was no fool. Over the course of the previous year, Chiyo had seen a strange change in Serissa. She didn't smile as much, anymore, and even the ones she forced were too strained to be believable anymore. But Chiyo never pressed or asked questions. She knew better. The woman she called her mother was stronger than any person she had ever known.

"I'm just checking out the backyard." Chiyo said, answering Serissa's question before she could repeat it. "Our tree is burned."

"I saw that. I imagine Michael and Lilith's training sessions are getting more intense, now that the Dragonmaster has... uncovered new abilities."

"Why do they have to train _here__?_ They're wrecking the yard."

"It's only a yard."

Chiyo frowned. This place was more than just a backyard. Some of her fondest memories had taken place right here, in this very grass. Under the tree the Fire Angel and his stupid little apprentice had treated like a training prop. "It isn't just a yard. This is our yard. This is _my _yard!"

"What's wrong, Chiyo?"

"What _isn't _wrong? I hate that they're here. I hate it! Being around them... around Michael and his stupid wife. It's killing me, Serissa...!"

"I don't know what you want me to say, Chiyo. I've told you why they're here and why we just have to... put up with this, for a while."

"I _want_ you to tell me that someday Michael is going to get what's coming to him...!" Chiyo fought back a sudden wave of tears with an angry sniff. "You've always told me that every decision has it's consequences... but why is he so special? Why does Michael get to live a happy and perfect life after all the lives that he _destroyed__?_ It isn't fair...!"

"I don't know how to answer that, baby. The cycle of Karma isn't in our control."

"Well why not? Why _can't_ we do something? Look what you have to deal with because of Judas. Why don't you do something? Why don't you ever fight back?"

"Because life is never going to be fair, Chiyo. And if you spend your whole life fighting it, you'll never enjoy what little good there is. You have to choose your battles."

"I don't _want_ to choose my battles. I want to fight them all until everything is set right!"

"And who are you to decide what is right, Chiyo?" Serissa said softly, gently brushing her fingers over Chiyo's tousled white hair. "If all you want is revenge, then you're no better than the ones who started all this, in the first place."

Chiyo's lip quivered as she looked up at her caretaker.

"I'm sorry. Really, I am." Serissa crouched to her knees and pulled Chiyo against her chest, threading fingers through her hair. "If I could make it all better, you know I would in a heartbeat."

Chiyo found herself crying silently in the warm shelter of Serissa's arms. "I'm so tired of feeling so angry, all the time."

Serissa didn't say another word, knowing that there wasn't really anything left _to_ say. Her broken heart ached for the young girl in her arms, a girl far too young to have suffered through the things she had experienced. There were many times when she thought that Chiyo had healed, that she was better. That she had done her job in sheltering her from any other horrors life had in store for her.

Serissa knew she had failed the moment Michael and Nema were granted permission to stay in her home, under the same roof as the young girl whose life they had unintentionally destroyed.

The sound of a soft tapping brought Serissa's attention away from Chiyo. Her breath left her when she saw Uriel standing on her back porch, looking haggard and sheepish, hands in his pockets. He offered her a shy and apologetic, miserable smile.

"Chiyo... Go inside and get something for breakfast, okay? I know you must be hungry."

Chiyo pulled away from Serissa and cast a confused glance at her, but stayed silent when she noticed Uriel standing a short distance away from them. Once the back door was closed behind her, Uriel spoke. "How is she doing...?"

"She's still struggling with all of this." Serissa swallowed the lump in her throat and tightened her blanket around her shoulders. "It's hard for her to see Michael, of all people."

"Why him?"

"When I first found Chiyo, I tried for a long time to find any family she might have had that were still alive. I found an aunt... Her mother's sister. Chiyo was seven when I told her the news." Serissa's lips formed a soft frown. "I should have waited to tell her... a short time later, I found out that this aunt of hers had passed on several years ago. One of Michael's victims during the Genocide."

Uriel's eyes widened in a mild display of horror. "... Oh." Uriel didn't think Michael or Nema knew that. He didn't know if they had _ever _been confronted by a family member of one of the several hundred Rabbits Michael had murdered during that very dark time in his life.

"You look like Hell." Serissa said, in a rapid attempt to change the subject.

"I haven't slept, yet." Uriel said, hating how he couldn't even bring himself to look her in the eye, after their previous encounter, mere hours before.

"Mmm." Serissa said with an understanding nod.

"I just wanted to say I'm so-"

"Don't." Serissa cut him off, offering him a soft, genuine smile. "Really. You don't have to apologize. This may sound... a bit depraved, but I didn't mind. At all. In fact, I enjoyed it."

Uriel felt a blush heat his cheeks and he shifted his weight to his other foot. "I just don't want you to feel like I used you."

"But you did use me... and that's okay." Serissa moved closer, only to side step around him and head for the door. Before she passed, she reached out a hand from beneath her blanket to gently squeeze his forearm. The action sent a shiver through him. "Truth is, I was using you, too."

That didn't make him feel better. At all. A knot twisted in Uriel's stomach. He rested a gentle hand on top of hers. "I won't do that to you, again. I promise."

"Perhaps that's for the best. I think we have bigger things to be concerning ourselves with now, anyway."

"Just so you know?" Uriel swallowed back his nervousness and forced out his words. "I meant everything I said to you."

"I never thought otherwise." She squeezed his arm one last time before pulling her hand back. "You're a good man, Uriel."

Uriel forced himself to smile. "You have no idea how much it means... for you to say that to me." He repeated her words back to her and watched something stir in her eyes. That simple look kicked him in the guts, and it was all he could do to not pull her back into his arms and repeat his previous mistake.

Serissa didn't say another word, and Uriel knew that was the best thing she could have done. She left him standing on the back porch, alone with his thoughts and the chill of the morning breeze. He decided he didn't like any of the things that were running through his head. He didn't like how his guilt had somehow lessened in the span of their short conversation. He didn't like how he craved more of her with each new moment that passed.

She was becoming a poison far sweeter than the taste of Jack Daniels.

xXxXxXx

Author's Note from Jael: Okay this chapter was kind of a killer to write. T.T


	12. Chapter 11

_Authoress Notes: Language lesson – Yeoboseyo: (Korean) Hello, to be used when answering phones – compare this to the Japanese 'Moshi moshi.'_

_Appa: (Korean) Dad. A casual term in comparison to 'abuji,' father._

**Layers**

_Chapter Eleven_

By: Brenli and Jael

4:30 AM. Milky white fingers were delicate about tapping the 'alarm off' button just before it could ring and rouse them both...

The morning after that not-so-happy night, Nema had tried to keep him in bed. She'd traced her fingers down the line of his tattoo and lower still, and he'd grumbled and pulled away from her. It had been the same the next morning, and the next... She quit trying, after that.

And maybe she was being obnoxious...? Too needy? But he awoke and left her and didn't come back until well after Nema had lain down to sleep.

So she was lonely. She wanted to believe that she had the right to a little loneliness.

Nema's hand hovered over the alarm clock, slowly retreating back across Michael's body. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to caress him and brush kisses all across his chest and hope that he'd stay in bed this one time, for only an hour. Or even half an hour... but she didn't risk it.

Instead, she gently slipped out of bed, leaving him there, wrapping herself up in the black fabric of that button-down shirt and silently sneaking to their window. Her ivory fingers curled around the heavy curtain and pulled it aside. Only a fraction. Enough for her tired ruby eyes to peek down into the big backyard.

Lilith was already out there, forming little fiery wisps in her golden palms and aiming them at nothing, throwing them at nothing as she sparred with the air, practicing high kicks. No doubt looking to impress her personal trainer with her readiness... She'd done the same, yesterday.

Nema couldn't begin to understand how her husband could be so blind. She wanted to ask him. She _would_ have asked him if he wasn't dead tired during whatever little time they were together. Barely a week had gone by since Lilith had turned into a fire wielding fighter, and already the big-breasted hussy-

Nema stopped herself from that train of thought, lest she... she didn't even know what she would have done. But her body had grown so tense, she may as well have been carved out of ivory, after all. Hard and cold...

The curtain dropped back down, and Nema dressed herself in the dark. Silent hands pulled pieces of clothing that weren't her usual taste onto her form. A plain, red cotton tank top. A pair of black shorts. The knee-high boots, the flat-heeled ones that she'd owned since she was living in Assiah – admittedly, not worn as often anymore, in favor of the high-heeled ones that she felt made her look a little more regal, womanly. She peered at her face in the mirror as she pulled her long, snowy-white hair into a high ponytail. She didn't like what she saw. She looked tired and mean...

Grabbing the Angel Crystal earring from the polished oak of the vanity, Nema slipped the hook into her ear and looked down at Michael as he slept. Mouth slightly open. Bedsheets half-exposing his torso. Wonderful red hair looking like a mussed mess around his head... She stared and stared and realized she was nearly willing him to wake up, now. It had been months since he'd seen her dressed like this. Maybe he'd like it. Maybe he'd give her that amazing, wide smile of his and invite her to spar. Maybe his smile would be dark and he'd pull her back into bed, inviting her for a whole other kind of... sparring.

But Michael kept sleeping, unchecked by the alarm clock, and she gave up and left him there.

Nema had little occasion to actually wear her cross earring ever since she'd been wounded, and it felt heavy as it swung from her left ear. Her worn-in boots silently strode across the new carpeting, down the steps, through a parlor that led to the backyard...

However much the former Dragonmaster had suddenly taken to her training, she clearly wasn't observant enough to notice the addition of a second fighter. A sick kind of satisfaction seemed to bubble in Nema's stomach, one that she couldn't rationalize. It took pulling her earring from her ear, gently tossing it into the air so that the Angel Crystal could shift into the usual katana, and stabbing the sharp tip into the earth, before Lilith noticed her.

She turned to face the pale woman, the sloppy champagne blonde bun at the back of her head bouncing just a bit. Dark red cat eyes blinked at Nema, and the little ball of flame she'd been cradling in her hands flickered and died down. "... You joining us today?"

Lilith wasn't even trying to hide the disappointment, and Nema's felt her face harden into something both cold and angry. "Michael's still sleeping."

"... So just you?" Lilith's eyes traveled up and down Nema's form. She didn't exactly look like herself without the poofy skirts and the flowing hair... Her eyes were briefly drawn to the blue dragon etched around Nema's ivory thigh, immediately recognizing it as the same dragon upon Michael's body... but it was mostly the look in the Rabbit Queen's eyes that set the Evil girl on edge. Sharp but unreadable.

"Is that a problem?" Nema knew it was a problem.

Lilith blinked again, her head shaking just the slightest bit before recovering herself. Her stance shifted, feet planted more firmly against the ground. "Not at all. I've just never sparred with you, before."

They were dancing around their aggression, and Nema didn't mind. "It's good to spar with different partners. Not everyone fights in the same manner; you don't want to get caught in an old pattern."

Suddenly, a little ripple of laughter left Lilith's lips.

"Did I say something funny?"

Lilith stifled her laughter with a upwards tilt of her head. "No, of course not."

Ruby eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Strange that you didn't already know that. That's basic knowledge. Anyone who's been training for a long as you have should have known that, unless you're too stupid to remember." Maybe that was too mean. Maybe Nema didn't care.

Maybe Lilith didn't care, either. "It never came up. Your husband's too preoccupied to give me little lessons like those, I think." She was a little too nonchalant, shrugging, her smile aloof and provoking all at once.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to teach you some lessons, isn't it? Arm yourself." Nema didn't wait for Lilith, immediately pulling her Angel Crystal katana from the ground and running toward the former Dragonmaster.

Lilith scrambled, but only briefly, tossing little balls of flame at the Violent Queen to try and quell her.

"Surely you're better than that, Lilith...! I've been dodging fire bigger and hotter than that for years!"

But those little fireballs had given Lilith the time she needed to grab a wide, curved sword from one of the several weapon-laden tables. "Forgive me for wanting to show Her Majesty a bit of mercy!" Lilith parried two wide, Angel Crystal slashes. She didn't relish how the blade seemed nearly invisible as Nema wielded it...

"Mercy, for me?" Their blades locked, pressing against each other.

Lilith could hear the steel of her sword of choice groan under the indestructible blade. "Of course. Powerless as you are, now."

A sudden sneer curled Nema's lips, and she pushed back on Lilith's sword, forcing the both of them apart. "You don't want to go against my power; you wouldn't be _alive_ if you did...!"

"Threats like those are pretty empty these days, aren't they?" If Lilith had meant to say more, the words were lost when Nema closed the distance between them, swinging mercilessly. She tried to keep her face even, calculating – a thing she had seen Michael do frequently while he trained her – but this sword... funny, this sword had never failed her, before. But somehow Nema's katana was giving it Hell. It groaned and the strain echoed right down through her golden arm...

And when they pushed away from each other, Nema's boots crunching against the dirt, Lilith noticed that a small chunk had been taken out of the her blade... "I can think of plenty of threats that aren't so empty."

The women stood, swords brandished, eyes in different shades of red, but carrying the same fire steadily burning behind calmer, colder masks. "What is this really about? Another Angel's arrogance?"

A smile cracked Nema's mask, and it was mean, venomous. "Oh, don't talk to me about arrogance, please!"

"Why can't I?" Lilith shot back, her usual angry snarl beginning to bleed into her words, "You come here with shit to say to me but instead you're giving me this mock-sparring routine, showing off your fancy sword! Get to your fucking point!"

"You want me to get to the point?" Nema's boots scraped at the ground, and she all but crashed against the Evil, their blades locking, her foot connecting with Lilith's torso and sending her flying back.

Bark crunched under Lilith's own boots as she ricocheted off the tree and rebounded for Nema. Her wings spread from her back, propelled her faster. Steel met Angel Crystal again, but the katana fit into the notch it had carved out in the metal and purposely pulled the sword aside.

Cat eyed pupils narrowed into slits as she saw the ivory fist speeding toward her face, and Lilith reacted in haste, her free hand issuing forth a wave of fire. There wasn't time to think of anyone's safety. Clearly, Nema had very little interest in hers.

The Violent Queen had to bend backwards to avoid the heat, and was briefly beneath Lilith, who was baring down on her katana with her chewed-up sword, wings brandished. She pushed her off with her clear blade, her own dark wings unfurling from her back as they sped up into the air, blades still locked. Nema shook her katana free, only to crash against Lilith's sword, metal and crystal singing, screaming at each other like each woman wanted to scream at each other...

Eventually, the steel gave way to the Angel Crystal, cracking, snapping, and for the dangerous flash of a second, there was nothing that could have stopped Nema's blade from biting into Lilith's flesh.

A desperate wall of flame flared out around Lilith, and the two pulled back with large sweeps of their wings. They hovered there, the sun beginning to crest over the trees and scattered mansions sparsely dotted in the remote neighborhood. The light of dawn shone right through the expanses of skin between the sturdy, black, bony frame of Lilith's Evil wings, jewel tones all in teal, blue, purple, some burgundy shade... Nema had never seen an Evil's wings before, but found it ironic that they reminded her of stained glass windows in old cathedrals. "... Over 12 hours, Lilith." Nema finally spoke once she caught her breath. "Every single _day._ For over 12 _hours?_"

Lilith dropped the other half of the ruined sword and planted her golden hands on her generous hips. "So that's what this is about?"

"Angels have to sleep, too!"

"Don't tell me that. Tell your husband." She stared at the moody Rabbit with her crystal sword and her sour frown, and she had to do it. She just had to give her a cruel smile and add, "Michael just really... really... really enjoys sparring with me."

"Don't pin this on Michael. This has less to do with him and more with _you_."

"Are you sure about that?" Lilith saw the sun glinting off the Angel Crystal blade as it shook in Nema's hand. "If he really wanted to, he could end each day early. You and I both know that. He could end each day whenever he wanted to and come running home to you. Lonely injured woman that you've been, up until last week or so." The blade twitched upward, but Lilith kept right on speaking. "But he chokes every minute out of every day that he can... to spend with me."

"To _train_ you." Nema corrected her coldly.

"To train me, yes. To grapple with me." Lilith paused and let that image twist into something unwelcome in the Rabbit Queen's mind. "By the way, don't you love how his body runs a little hotter than most? I love that."

Nema's sword was brandished and ready, but Lilith sank back down to the ground, her wings seeming to crackle and twitch as they disappeared. She followed her, her own wings shuddering in anger, shaking a few loose, dark feathers into the air. "I knew you were a spoiled little brat, but a whore in the making, too? Keep your filthy fucking hands off Michael!"

"It's not my problem if he doesn't _want_ you anymore." Lilith gave her a chilly, cat-eyed glared over her golden shoulder as she crossed over to mansion. "Maybe he's bored? You clearly don't do much for him, anymore."

The nerve of this wretched...! "You don't know _anything _about Michael and I!" Lilith's honey-toned hand began to pull open the door, but Nema's snowy-white one slapped against it, shutting it all over again. "I fucking _mean_ it, Lilith." The Rabbit Queen's voice was a low, warning hiss. "If you don't back the Hell off, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Lilith hissed right back, turning to deliver a dark red, cat-eyed glare. "Kill the Dragonmaster?"

Nema scoffed and lightly tossed her Angel Crystal katana into the air. The blade shrank and morphed back into her cross earring, and she spoke easily as she neatly slipped it back into her pierced left ear. "Don't be ridiculous; I wouldn't kill you." She met Lilith's moody glare with a glare of her own, brighter red against the former Dragonmaster's garnet irises. "But... maim you? Yeah. I might be open to that."

The pause between them burned cold, neither of them blinking. "... I think I'm done, today." Lilith pulled open the door again, but Nema slipped inside. Her pale shoulder roughly pushed against the Evil's arm.

"Oh, don't do that. You have to train. You have to become a fully capable and self-sufficient fighter...!" Nema wrapped all her anger in poisonous, sugared tones that matched the smile she gave her. "Please, as you were. I'm sure Michael will be joining you, soon. I'll even wake him up for you, after I've showered off." Every single word was an unspoken warning. Even the parting bow that she gave her before she walked away, the leftover habit from Japan, was a warning.

xXxXxXx

The Queen of Rabbits certainly knew how to ruin the day, didn't she? Lilith couldn't be sure, but Michael seemed annoyed that he'd slept through his alarm, and that annoyance showed itself off and on throughout the day. Maybe he'd argued with his pale wife a bit, before he showed up?

Well, all the better, then.

The former Dragonmaster plopped down in the chair before her vanity, wrapped up in a short robe as she toweled off her freshly washed hair. Her maroon eyes fixated on the earrings she always wore, even now – the earrings that encased the Shinryu – and she reached out to run a golden finger down the runes carved into the precious stone.

Praying to the Shinryu the way most Evils did was... not very rewarding, in Lilith's opinion. She was used to them literally answering her own, talking back to her. She missed Jade...

Against the odds, she missed Agate and Amber, too, but mostly she missed Jade. There was so much she needed to talk to her about, and it felt weird to realize she wanted to initiate those heart-to-hearts that she used to barely endure. But she needed to talk to Jade. Surely Jade could've made some sense about her body and all the strange ways it reacted and what to do about... him.

But no, she was left to her own devices, left to counsel herself. A sigh left her lips as she lifted one earring and closed her hands around it, in prayer. "I deserve what I want, don't I, Jade...?"

The rapping of knuckles upon her door made her jump and drop her earring, and it clattered against the other as it it landed on her vanity. _"What?"_ She found herself snapping. If it was Nemaelle, Shinryu help her...!

A sigh and a soft, "Princess..." smoothly slipped through Lilith's door and into her ear.

"What do you want, lecher?" Lilith didn't understand why he didn't just go _back_ to Sheol or Seoul or wherever; he had _no_ obligation to stick around, and clearly it was dangerous to do so!

"Are you decent?"

"_No!"_ She hissed at the door. "It's late and I'm about to go to bed!"

"Can you make yourself decent?"

The Evil gaped. "I'm not a part of your _harem;_ you can't order me arou-"

"I'm not _ordering_ you. I am _asking_ you."

A pause.

"Please. I believe this is important."

Lilith's mouth pursed into a pout, and she stood with a growl. "_Fine_, hang on." She tore through the clothes that Jibril had been kind enough to give her a few months back, trying to find whatever looked nice. Truth to tell, she wasn't wild about Jibril's fashion choices. Everything was girly and flouncy and the silhouettes of most of these clothes reminded her of the formal, Princess attire the Elder Council wanted her to wear... She grabbed the only pair of jeans Jibril had for her – jeans she'd purposely ground holes and frayed edges into as soon as she received them – and stomped her way into them, and pulled a low-cut blouse over her head. She tried hard to accept the fact that her cleavage was on full display, and stood a few paces away from her door. "Come in."

After a brief moment of silence, she saw his trademark top hat slip through the wood of her door, followed by the rest of the Gehenna Vampire as he frowned at the floor. "You can unlock the door for me." His ink-black eyes seemed preoccupied, though Lilith couldn't be sure why.

"Or you can walk through the door; it's not like it's hard for you." The former Dragonmaster crossed her arms over her bosom and scowled.

Despite himself, Jinho tapped his cane against the floor and rested his hands upon it. "Point made." His face tilted up to look at her, and he continued, "I will try to keep this brief-"

"So make it brief." Lilith's garnet eyes narrowed into slits, trying to read him and utterly failing. He looked like he had a lot on his mind. That was it. She hated that she couldn't read him. Years of dealing with the Elders had made her think she was pretty damn good at it, but not with Jinho and his careful face and his impossibly dark eyes.

Jinho took a slow, gentle breath though his nose to keep from sighing all over again. Normally he was very proud of his patience, but Lilith certainly knew how to test it... "I spent a large part of the evening with Nemaelle-"

"Yeah? Did you bang the crazy out of her? Because she really needed it, today." Lilith said sourly, her fingers drumming against her crossed arms.

The corners of Jinho's lips turned down just slightly. "No, Lilith, I didn't."

"Pity."

His head tilted. "I have no interest in sleeping with Nema, and she's married, anyway."

Lilith let out a short little snort. "Because that means so much; being married."

"It does. To Nemaelle, it does." Jinho watched the Evil as she crossed back over to her vanity, grabbing her earrings. "Lilith, why are you doing this? Why Michael?"

"Is there something wrong with Michael?"

His dark brows furrowed together, and somehow even that came across as charming and smooth. "He's married." He wondered why the word didn't seem to reach her. That should have been all the reason in the world not to...

"So _what_ if he's married?" Lilith snapped at him, glaring at him through her vanity mirror. "That's really fucking hilarious, coming from you!"

"Don't."

Lilith scoffed, but he had a way, sometimes. A way that made a single word sound like a lot of words were hiding within it. "... Why, has Michael said or done something to make her worry?" A wave of giddy warmth flooded her, and it was a very guilty pleasure.

"Not anything that you're thinking."

"Ohhhh, but he has done something?"

His cane tapped against the floor again, "Lilith, you have to stop this. You're being selfish and irrational."

Lilith turned to give him a cat-eyed glare. "Congratulations on saying the exact same thing the Elders have always said to me! That's old fucking news, Jinho!"

"Have you ever considered that they tell you that because it's true?" The words were out before Jinho could stop himself. He could have said worse... but he wasn't proud of it.

The former Dragonmaster's eyes widened for a moment, before narrowing all over again. "So what if it's true? If it's true, then I'm selfish and I'll do whatever I want, for myself. I feel warm when I'm with Michael; I feel good. I don't want to question or doubt this, Jinho. I want to just... feel it." Her back bumped against the vanity when the Gehenna Revenant crossed over to her, the white glove covering his hand giving a little wave. A smattering of pictures suddenly littered the vanity, a couple of newspaper articles... all of them of Michael and Nema. "Are you fucking serious right now, Jinho?"

"Look at them." He said simply, gesturing to the strange collage. He pointed out a wedding photo, tapping it, and then a photo of a heavily pregnant Nema. "You need to understand what you're attempting to interrupt, Lilith." He pulled the newspaper articles closer. One was a spread on their wedding, the other a picture of them with lips locked, wings spread. He saw Lilith's brow furrow at it, and answered her unspoken question. "There was extensive media coverage for the court case calling for the end of the Rabbit Hunting." He tapped the picture printed on the yellowing paper and added, "This was taken seconds after Michael's proposal to her. He had no way of knowing if their case would win. He risked persecution and possibly death in this moment."

She brushed the newspaper article away. "That's stupid."

"That's Heaven. Their culture did not support romantic and sexual bonds. Even now it's still a very new thing for the Angels." Lilith looked up at him, and he took a half step away from her, taking a short breath before he continued. "They have a story, Lilith. A very complex one that I only witnessed very small glimpses of... but they fought the world. They literally fought the world, for each other. That is the caliber of their devotion."

He watched as Lilith gave him furrowed brows and a pouted frown. "They apparently weren't always as gaga over each other as you're making them sound." She held up a single photo, a polaroid of the pair that looked as if they'd just barely been forced into the frame, Nema with her pale arms crossed over her chest... two of Michael's fingers sticking up behind her head in impromptu rabbit ears.

But Jinho only smiled. "From what I understand they would constantly fight, yes. I believe Setsuna took that picture just before he'd left on some sort of anniversary trip with Jibril... Strange, though. When I first met Michael, he didn't have animosity for anyone except for me." He plucked the picture from Lilith's fingers and held it up to her. "This photo has it's place, here." He flipped it over, laying it on the cool wood of the vanity so that the date showed, and then grabbed another photo, and another, flipping them over so the dates could be read. "That photo was the beginning of years spent together, Lilith. Years. And there had been a lot to contend with, along the way." He paused, looking at the back of her head as she stared at the pictures littering her vanity. "What you say you're feeling... that goodness. It's not anything more than a crush."

"Shut up, Jinho." Lilith swiped at the photos, pushing them into a messy pile and crossing the room with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I gather you've never felt this way before." Again, she told him to shut up. Again, he persisted. "I know it must be very overwhelming for you, Lilith. I know it must feel strong." He waved his hand over the photos, and they disappeared. "But what you feel is likely to be fleeting. There's no longevity, there. It isn't love-"

"You think that I think this is love?" The Evil snapped at him, her lips snarling.

"Then you don't believe you're in love?" He merely countered.

"I don't know what I am; I don't like _labels._" Lilith glared at the Gehenna Vampire as she seethed, "Love, devotion, marriage, they're just _words_. And you should know, Jinho, seeing as you're Lucifer's favorite fucking _liar_ – words mean different things to different people. Words don't _mean_ much of anything!"

He finally released the sigh he'd been trying to keep locked inside. "Lilith-"

"No, I'm not done!" She snapped. "Look, this whole love story of theirs? It's real sweet, Jinho. But you know what? Love can die. Love dies all the fucking time."

"Then what exactly are you trying to pursue, here, Lilith?" Her mouth closed into a frustrated frown. "You say that love dies. You say that words and labels have no meaning. But then you speak of warmth, and feeling good. If nothing else, it's clear that you want this..."

"Stop trying to fucking _read_ me!"

"You're not going to find what you're looking for, with him-"

"Oh, yeah?" Her eyes were wide and livid, her words quaking. "Am I supposed to find it with you? My _sweet betrothed one?_" She watched his dark eyes slip to the floor, watched him sigh and begin to speak. She spoke right over him, and it felt entirely too good to do so. "Do you even _know_ how many others there were before you? And the Elder Council swore up and down that they would be loving and true, and where are they?"

"You pushed them away, Lilith. You've scared off every single one of them!"

"_Good!_ That's what I want! I want all of you suitors to stand aside, and when _I_ choose someone, I'll _have_ that someone, and no one is going to stop me!"

Jinho blinked, and he couldn't keep the incredulous look off of his face. "That isn't how things work, Lilith. It isn't all you. You have to think of the other people-"

"No! No, I don't! I'm not compromising myself for _other people!_"

The Vampire's frown deepened. "Lilith, where are you going with this?"

"Nowhere!" Lilith yelled at him, her golden cheeks beginning to turn pink. "I want what I want and I don't want what I don't want. I want _him._ I _don't_ want suitors with six fucking wives!"

One second, Jinho's ink-black eyes were wide and round, and the next they were thin slits. "Don't talk about my wives."

"I'll talk about them all I want to, lecher! I'll talk about how it's really fucking telling that the Council wants to lump me in with your list of _whores!_" Her body bumped against the vanity, her breath caught in her throat when that pristine, white glove closed around it.

"Stop talking about my wives." There was that tone she'd only heard once before, during that group meeting. That tone like the sure, steady stroke of a cold knife. "Now."

The former Dragonmaster still held her earrings in one hand, and they cut into her palm as it tightened. Her glare burned into him, and she wanted to dare him to do it. To go ahead and strangle her. Her brows quivered as they pinched together, but she steeled herself, just the same...

It took a beat of silence for Jinho to let her go, and he marched away from her, some Korean curse word slipping out of his mouth. His cane stabbing at the floor as he moved. "... He's _married,_ Lilith. Michael is married and devoted to Nemaelle and you _have_ to respect that."

"My mother was married; look what good that did her...!" The Dragonmaster's voice quivered, each word hissing in warning, in aggression and pain.

"What does that even _mean?_" Jinho was clearly shaken, removing his top hat, a hand running across his dark hair.

"Like you don't know?" Lilith said with a shaky breath.

They both needed the pause in order to get their bearings, though Jinho seemed to reach that point much sooner than Lilith could. "Lilith, I don't know what you're referring to. Queen Kurai was married and devoted to her King until her passing."

He stood, nearly at the opposite side of the room, watching as Lilith... stared at him. Her mouth opened, then closed. Her brows knit together. She took a couple breaths through her nose. "... You don't know."

Some icy feeling flooded his veins, and he couldn't explain why. "What don't I know...?"

Those four words sent the Evil into a fit, pacing, seething, gulping on her breaths. "Those fucking...! Horrible...! Stuffy...! Fucking men...!"

Jinho wasn't sure that he had the right to touch her after the way he'd handled her moments ago, but he reached out, anyway. This fit... didn't feel very much like her usual ones. "Lilith, what don't I know?"

She swatted his gloved hands away, her words coming through as snarls and hisses, "That's just _like_ them! They'll talk your ear off all day long about all my _power_ and my _wealth_ and they'll even _lie!_ They'll say whatever to you so that I look like a shiny golden _trophy, _but oh! They won't tell you the _truth,_ no! Why would they do that?"

"Princess-"

"_Princess!"_ Lilith bellowed, turned on her heel. She felt like her heart thundering against her skin, and opened up her palm to see that the posts of her earrings had broken her skin. She let out an angry growl and threw them at the vanity, listening to them clatter against the wood. "I am so _disgusted_ with the Elders...!" She shut her eyes, covered her quivering mouth with her wounded hand.

Jinho watched her gasp on her own breaths... and when he caught the glimmer of tears lining her lashes, he reached out again, crossing over to her again. "Lilith, what have they kept from me-"

The moment his hand touched her shoulder, she flinched violently, her hands lifting, her body tensing. "Don't touch me; get away from me." She blinked out a few tears, and her hands helplessly fluttered across her face. This was miserable...! She wanted so _badly_ to talk to Jade, now... to just... _cry_ at her. "... Get _away_ from me, lecher! _Leave!_"

Jinho could only manage a half-step backwards, frowning, not expecting their conversation to take this kind of turn. Lilith ended up pushing him out of the room, right through the wood of her door, screaming at him to leave, to get the fuck away from her...

He heard her let out an enraged scream, and normally, he would have sighed. Not this time. This time he was overwhelmed and confused and concerned... He strode back to his room, slipping through his door and immediately propping his cane against the small table set against the wall. His thoughts chased themselves in circles: he should figure this out, he shouldn't figure this out. He _couldn't_ figure this out, could he? A large part of the reason he'd never returned to Gehenna after being selected as her suitor was because the Elder Council were pushy to the point of harassment. Too pushy. Outright eager to get marriage plans made and commenced and finalized and consummated...

His top hat dropped onto that small table, and his white gloves followed. He realized that he could disguise himself... And found himself pulling open his closet doors and staring at all his clothing. Several suits. Several pieces of clothing people wouldn't have normally thought he'd wear... He fished through those... He could make himself appear older... None of the clothes he had here would have worked for that. He couldn't go much younger; he had no clothes in the right sizes for that... Traveling light didn't do him any favors with his line of work.

Another Korean curse word came mumbling out of his mouth, and he sat upon his bed. Ink-black eyes read the glowing red numbers on the clock upon his bedside table – midnight... it would be around 8AM in Seoul... Would that be too early?

Jinho sighed, knowing he wouldn't get to sleep if he didn't at least call for the sake of calling... he missed them, after all.

The Gehenna Vampire was preparing for the call to go to voicemail, when he suddenly heard a slightly similar voice answer. Smooth like his own, but much heartier, even while speaking around a yawn. "Yeoboseyo...?"

Despite his raw nerves, Jinho had to smile. "Appa..."


	13. Chapter 12

_Authoress Notes: Language lesson – Appa: (Korean) Dad._

_Adul: (Korean) Son._

_Umma: (Korean) Mom._

_Bulgogi: Literal "Fire Meat," a Korean dish comprised of thin slices of marinated beef._

_Bul: (Korean) Fire._

_Lots of words to learn, today...!_

**Layers**

_Chapter Twelve_

By: Brenli and Jael

White wine was a welcome alternative to Jack Daniels. Uriel idly swirled the sweet Riesling in his glass as he climbed the stairs to the third floor of the mansion. He had gone a few days without whiskey and the lack of alcohol had been wreaking havoc on his body. He hoped that a glass of wine before bed would help take the edge off. Sipping the sweet drink, he found himself thinking of Serissa... again.

Oh, he couldn't seem to get her out of his head. Ever. He hadn't seen her since their short conversation on her porch. But that was to be expected... He would often go days without seeing her. He wanted to see her, though. That was all he could think about...

He sighed and reached for the doorknob of his bedroom... and something caught his eye.

From around the corner of the hall, the hall that lead to the double doors of Serissa's room, were a pair of boots. Slouchy black boots with a wedge heel and silver buckles... Serissa's boots. The position of the shoes indicated that she was laying face down in the hallway, around the corner.

"Serissa?" Alarmed, Uriel rushed to her. His wine glass slipped out of his hand and shattered at his feet.

She was on the floor, her face hidden by her brown hair. He could hear her breathing, a rattled, rasping thing that turned his stomach and made his blood cold. Her body was twitching in such a grotesque way...

"Serissa...!" Uriel fell to his knees beside her and rolled her over, quickly brushing her hair away from her face. The strands stuck to a layer of sweat on her skin. She was pale, way too pale. Her hazel eyes were blank and staring into nothing, her lips parted as her jaw opened and closed, her teeth clasping at nothing, the tips of her fangs long enough to reach past her lip.

Blood deprivation. Uriel recognized it immediately. He had spent two days researching Revenants, in his idle time between leads on Celestiel. He knew that going too long without blood could be deadly. It started with a severe form of shock...

He only hoped it wasn't too late for Serissa.

Without a second thought, he reached out to grab a piece of his shattered wine glass. He raked the sharp edge across the side of his neck, just hard enough to pierce his skin and leave a thin red line of blood bubbling to the surface of his tan skin.

"Serissa? Can you hear me?" Pulling her into his arms, Uriel pushed the rest of her hair off her neck and cradled her forehead against his shoulder.

She reacted so quickly, Uriel's entire body jerked. Her hand fisted in his hair and her jaw clamped around the wound on his neck. Fangs pierced his neck and he hissed with the pain. She was so strong...! He had no idea such strength rested in her lithe body. Her grip on him was so tight it hurt. The sounds she made as she took greedy pulls from his vein scared him, strange growling, mewling sounds that didn't sound remotely normal. The effects of her venom hit him as hard and as fast as they did the first time she had tasted his blood, but this time was different. Fear thrummed in his chest and knots coiled in his stomach.

"Serissa...?" He wondered if she could even hear him. If there was any part of the woman he knew still inside her, or if she was just some blood-starved beast. He didn't push her away, though, knowing just how much she needed him, right then. It hurt in more ways than he could understand.

Uriel endured it all, taking deep, steady breaths to keep himself from panicking. This was too strange, too macabre. So unlike their previous time, like this. He held on, thinking only of her and what she really needed...

Serissa suddenly launched herself away from him, scrambling backwards until her back slammed into the wall of the hallway. Her eyes were wide and wild, full of shock and horror.

"Uriel..!" She covered her blood stained lips with her mouth. "Jesus, I'm so sorry!"

"For what?" He reached for her, ignoring the blood from his chewed neck dribbling down and soaking into the collar of his shirt. The sudden change in her demeanor was startling, like she suddenly had her mind back. Surely she needed more?

"Stay back." She warned him, holding out a shaking hand. "Please don't come any closer."

He froze, feeling the rift in his chest opening more. "What's wrong?"

"I just...!"

"I _wanted _you to!" Uriel said. He didn't need her to explain what she had just done, how she had frightened him with her ferocity and need. "Serissa, you were-"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry...!" She fisted her hands in her brown hair. "I just... I've been so busy I haven't even thought to drink. I..."

"Hey. It's okay." Uriel reached out to take her hands, to encourage her to release the painful grip on her roots. "Really."

"I'm a fucking monster. You should stay away from me."

"That's the last thing I want to do... Look at me." Uriel tilted up her chin when she refused to look at him. "Why would you let yourself go this far? You could have died."

"I know, I just... I _hate_ that I have to..." She groaned and looked away from him again. "I put it off as long as I can. I hate the sight and the smell of the fucking thing I need to live." She wiped off her lips and her trembling returned full force, racking her pale and sweaty body.

"Serissa..." Uriel sighed and pulled the sleeve of his shirt over his fingers. He hated seeing her like this... he hated not knowing the full weight of what she clearly carried on her shoulders. "Is it easier to take blood when you're taking it directly from someone?" He used his sleeve to gently wipe away the little red streaks on her chin.

"Yes."

A horribly wicked idea crossed Uriel's mind. He found that he wanted nothing more than to sweep her up in his arms, carry her to his room and let her take as much as she needed and maybe more. He would let her venom take him over and maybe he would be lucky enough to sleep with her, again. He wanted that. He wanted to know that she had everything she needed... But he knew that at the root of that desire was something very dark and very selfish.

He suddenly decided he wanted something different. And his lips curled into a soft smile, feeling a little bit of pride in himself for resisting what the darkness in him wanted more than anything. "Have dinner with me, tomorrow."

Serissa's eyes widened. "What?"

"I want us to talk more. I want to know what I can do to help you."

"Help me? With what?"

"With whatever it is that's making you work yourself into exhaustion, like this." The confused look she gave him made an uncomfortable knot twist in his stomach. "Just say yes."

"We shouldn't."

"Maybe not. But I want to." Uriel found himself smiling again, softly, in some attempt to show her that he was sincere. "Please?"

"... I'll see if I can make time."

Noncommittal as her answer may have been, Uriel still found himself pleased by it. It wasn't a no. He reached out to take her hands, to help her to her feet.

"Will you be okay, now?"

"Yeah, I think so." Serissa swept her hair out of her face and gently mopped her forehead with the back of her sleeve. "I'm surprised at you, Uriel."

"Why?"

"The way you've resisted my venom. Any other man would have hauled me into his room and taken advantage of my bloodlust."

Uriel just let out a soft, awkward laugh. "It wasn't exactly easy, but I'm done taking advantage of you." He reached out on an instinct to touch her arm. "... You're still shaking."

"I'll be okay. I have a private stash in my room."

"Please use it. I don't want to worry about you, tonight." He dared to brush his thumb over her quivering chin. "... Goodnight, Serissa."

"Goodnight, Uriel."

xXxXxXx

"Take a break."

… What? "I don't need a break."

Michael rolled blue-green eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Lilith, I've bashed you over the head twice, already."

A golden hand gingerly touched the sore bump she could feel forming on the back of her head, and still she protested, "Nothing I can't shake off." She tried to convince him with a warm smile, but Michael didn't take the bait.

"That's not the point! At all!" He sighed, "Where's your head at?"

Like Lilith was going to tell anyone about the things plaguing her damn brain. A conversation that only reminded her of the way the Elder Council of Gehenna treated her. A hand at her throat. Violent threats from his wife... Maybe she _should_ tell Michael about how fucking nuts Nema had acted. How would that play out, if she did...?

"We're taking a break. Go."

"Michael, I _don't_ need a-"

"Lilith, if you can't fucking focus, I'm going to end up making a crater in the ground using your _body_." Annoyance wrinkled his red brow, but his words were sincere. That used to really bug Lilith, but she found herself latching onto that more and more. Sincerity was a rare thing, indeed. "And that's a waste of time, for me. So if you can't clear your head with whatever the Hell it is that's distracting you, take a break so that you _can!_"

The Evil pouted, and her leg tensed up, grinding her heel into the dirt and fighting the habitual stomping. "When we _first_ started doing this you'd just kick me around the yard until I _could_ fucking focus!"

"You really want me to fucking _kick_ you around the yard, Lilith?"

No, no she didn't, and she glared at her scuffed boots.

"Go. Take a break."

"Are you gonna be here when I get back...?" The question was a moody grumble, but her lips curled into a secret smile when Michael snorted a bit of laughter.

"Of course I'm still gonna fucking _be here! _Go on, get out of here and clear your damn head!"

But striding back inside didn't help Lilith clear her head. The door reminded her of threats to maim her. Checking herself over in a mirror set up near the entryway of the mansion made her stare at her neck, and she held a hand over it...

The former Dragonmaster hissed at herself for jumping when a knock issued forth from the front door. Such a stupid thing to be jumpy over... though to be fair, no one ever knocked on that door. The only people to come here were people who could enter freely...

Another knock, and Lilith finally sighed and crossed over to the door, pulling it open with a sour frown. "Ye-" Wait...

The man was dressed simply enough, black shoes, charcoal pants, a long, dark coat. A manila envelope tucked under his arm. An opaque tupperware box held in his hand. He'd already half-turned away, but as the door opened, he looked over his shoulder. His hair was short and he had a neat, soft goatee on his face...

Lilith's maroon eyes narrowed into slits. "What the _fuck_ did you do to your head, lecher?"

Incredibly dark eyes blinked... he laughed. Some bold, sunny sound... "I've never been called that, before!"

She gave him a small, incredulous shake of her head.

"May I come in?"

"Who are you?"

Again the man gave her a sunny laugh. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm-"

"Appa...!"

Lilith's head whipped around to the more familiar voice, and found herself struck silent as the men conversed, the visitor asking Jinho a question with a slight tilt of his head, Jinho replying, swift and... bashful? All in rapid Korean that slipped out of their mouths easily, but that wasn't what had frozen Lilith's tongue in her mouth.

She had a short haired Jinho with facial hair in the doorway... and another Jinho who stood upon the stairs leading to their rooms... dressed in loose blue jeans, a similarly loose shirt, some white and navy blue jacket that he immediately used to cover up that shirt. Only the upper half of his hair was tied back, the rest left loose and flowing around his shoulders...

What the Hell was going on...?

It wasn't until Jacket Jinho had finished moving down the steps, waving his hand in the direction of the nearby dining room, that the conversation switched back to a language she could understand – though it was the language of Evils, as though Short Haired Jinho was trying to keep secrets. "Will the Princess be joining us?"

"No." Well. That was really blunt and purposeful. Jacket Jinho's tone changed into one Lilith was finally accustomed to, the water over cool stones kind of tone, the usual tone. "Lilith, this is my father, Jinsang."

She was so overwhelmed, only a quip could keep her grounded. "And who the Hell are you? Jinsung?"

Lilith watched as the jacket-covered shoulders gently slumped, heard the low, soft sigh escape him. Oh good. Then it really was just an oddly dressed Jinho, and not a second clone.

"He almost was. His mother preferred Jinho more." Jinsang finally stepped inside, though he gave Lilith a deep, open-armed bow, tupperware in one hand and a manila envelope in the other. The kind of bow Lilith received by every man back in Gehenna... "It is an honor to finally meet you, Princess Lilith." Father and son were several paces away from her before she managed to shake away the strangeness of the situation and follow after them... and then Jinho had shut the double doors leading into the dining room before Lilith could even reach them. A frustrated frown puckered her lips, and yet she found herself hovering near...

xXxXxXx

"Is this how you normally act with other people, these days? One on one, behind shut doors?" Jinsang was already teasing his son.

"Shh!" Jinho held the doors shut, waiting for a moment. He didn't need to see his father to know he was rolling his eyes. "... She's not leaving." He said in hushed, slightly annoyed Korean.

"I'm not sure why you're keeping this from her-"

"Appa." Jinho turned to face him, his face solemn.

Jinsang couldn't keep the smile from his face, shaking his head. "... Are we Korean spies, adul?" But he switched away from the language of Evils, as his son silently pleaded for.

"I don't want her to know."

"Just like a spy." His smile broadened. "Let's sit. Clearly my son keeps very busy, but I have the right to catch up with him."

As they took seats next to each other at the long table, Jinho quietly reasoned in a way meant to comfort Jinsang, "There is little to catch up on. I'd already told you I would be centered in London for a while..."

"And in that time, you've gotten caught in a mess of Angels attacking your group, and are now sending your father to do work you're too frightened to do, yourself. Your mother is worried sick for you."

Jinho sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, which only made Jinsang laugh. "Umma has been worried about me since Lucifer summoned me to his Court..."

"You don't think it's telling? That your parents aren't even worried about Lucifer, anymore?"

Black eyes met equally black ones. "... If this is about the Prophecy, we are doing everything we can given the situation. All we can do is hope... and that's the same, whether I'm here or in Hell..."

"In Sheol." Jinsang specified, and while he'd momentarily grown serious, the smile reappeared. "Seeing as Gehenna is off limits to you."

Oh, the teasing... Jinho both missed and hated it. The only thing Jinho could do was grant his father a small, tentative smile. "Did you find anything...?"

Jinsang laid the manila envelope out on the table, but slid the tupperware toward him. "Eat a bit, first."

Jinho's dark brows furrowed together, somehow still coming across as charming. "You brought me food?"

"Your mother has taken to cooking... in the way that you prefer. She hopes to lure you home with her dishes." He smiled and nodded at the box. "Open it."

The moment he did, a laugh finally escaped him. "Bulgogi... with no bul!"

"Enjoy... though I still don't understand how it's possible."

"Says he who lives among humans." Jinho's hand waved across the table, and a little utensil rest appeared, spoon and chopsticks ready.

"No human would even accept this dish...!" Jinsang watched his son feed himself, eating a far too bloody strip of beef. "I'd rather just suck the blood right out of that meat..."

Jinho let his father whine, swallowing before murmuring, "It's wonderful. Send umma my gratitude and my love, appa."

"Of course." He finally slipped several papers and photos out of the manila envelope as Jinho continued to eat, laying them out for his son to see. "There doesn't seem to be any... light way of putting this. When I asked the Elder Council if there was anything they may not have told you about the Princess, they... collectively, mentally scrambled. It was hard not to laugh-"

"This." Jinho briefly set down his chopsticks and pointed at the photo of a painting. "This is in the throne room."

"It is."

"This is wider."

"It is," Jinsang agreed again, "I had to dig through archives to find a print of this, because it is the only remaining portrait of this man." He pointed to a man to right of the late Queen Kurai, and as Jinho paused, he added, "Seeing Lilith now that I've looked at him, I can't say that I'm surprised at all. It's no wonder they're trying to keep it a secret."

Jinho stared and stared at the man, brushed the picture of the portrait aside to pull forward a blown up segment of just that one man, one of the Queen's Guard, judging by his position. Golden skin, champagne blonde hair, maroon eyes... He leaned back toward the full portrait, looking at the royal couple on their thrones. Kurai with her silver hair, her blue eyes... her King with hair nearly as white as Nema's. Green eyes...

"I'm sure that if anyone has ever asked, the Elder Council has gone to great lengths to cite relatives with features like the Princess'. Prince Arachne had blonde hair, didn't he?"

Jinho shook his head with a frown, "A very deep blonde. Like caramel. Not like this..." He sat back in his seat. "... Then that's the secret. Lilith is..." His father was right. There was no light way of putting this, but he tried. "... born out of wedlock."

Jinsang was much more plain. "A bastard Princess, and not by King Amin."

"Then she isn't truly the Princess...?"

His father shrugged his shoulders. "There isn't much room to protest, is there? There are no other children to claim a royal title. And for better or worse, Lilith has royal blood. Amin was King Consort, after all. Not Regent."

Jinho pulled his coat tighter around himself, his voice in quiet murmurs, even though they kept their words secret in Korean. "... I don't understand why this would be kept from me."

"Don't you?" Jinsang scoffed. "The scandal of it all... After everything that has befallen the Kingdom of Gehenna, the last thing we need is an infidelity drama. Look at our land. Still reeling from wartime events of old. Everything is dying. And our royal family is struggling to simply _exist..._"

Jinho didn't need his father to fill in the blanks. Of course they were pushing for marriage, and children. Legitimate children. The Elder Council of Gehenna wanted the royal family rebuilt and strong, again... "... And these?" He pulled the written documents toward him, scanning over them. Lilith's announcement of birth, Kurai's announcement of death... "Kurai died in childbirth, didn't she?"

"That's what I think we've been led to believe. The documentation says otherwise..."

"This is the same date the late King Amin died..." Jinho's brow furrowed again, before he whispered, "Double suicide?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. How are we to know? The statements I obtained were brief. If there are more detailed ones, I have no idea where to look. My spy of a son would probably have better luck." The corners of Jinsang's eyes crinkled when Jinho gave him a cold look. "I know, I know. I would advise against you traveling to Gehenna any time soon. Especially as it seems Princess Lilith is suddenly... ripe for marriage." He stood, tapping the last paper. "The guard, Umar. It seems they had him executed for treason two days after Lilith's birth. Conspiring to murder the King, apparently... I'm not sure how true that really is." He watched as his son picked up another bloody slice of meat, but didn't eat it. He knew that look well. The quiet, solemn face... "I should be getting back..."

Jinho welcomed the distraction, setting down the food, standing. "Yes, you should; it isn't very safe, here..."

"It seems safer than Sheol... at least, for now." A snap of Jinho's fingers set a swirling, smokey void just behind him. "It's good to see you again, adul. Visit soon..."

"I've been meaning to..." Jinho replied softly. "I need to see them, too."

Jinsang's smile grew sad as he reached out, gently clapping a hand on his son's shoulder. "... In the meantime, you should tell Lilith about what you've sent your father to find out."

Ink-black eyes were briefly wide, his head shaking. The dark hair he'd left loose swayed against across his collarbones. "She'd eat me alive."

A bold, sunny laugh rumbled in Jinsang's chest, "It sounds to me that you deserve it, poking around in all her secrets!" His smile was warm, countering Jinho's charming little frown. "She deserves to know. I can only imagine how you would react if she started prying into yours... Though I've told you over and over that she needs to know about them."

"It won't matter if I do."

"Does it need to matter?" Jinsang gave him another firm, warm pat on his jacket-covered shoulder. "See you later, adul."

Jinho called after his father, giving him a farewell in reply as Jinsang stepped into the swirling, smokey void and disappeared, leaving a few plumes of cloudy smoke. No sooner than his father left, an incessant, obnoxious beeping came from the other side of the doors. There was clattering and cracking, and the beeping ended when Lilith's swearing began.

She'd already started pounding on the double doors before Jinho pulled them open, stepping out into the hall and noticing smoke gently fading along the floor, having slipped out from beneath the doors. "What the fuck are you _doing_ in there?"

"It's fine...!" The former Dragonmaster was all balled up fists in a dark, unbuttoned sweater, her arms moving wildly in the air. "I made a mistake; it's fine!" He stepped forward and found the demolished fire alarm with the toe of his shoe, hearing it skitter across the floor.

"What the Hell kind of _mistakes_ are you making to set off that annoying fucking piece of plastic?"

Did she think he had set the room on fire? "It's just a bit of magic. Everything is okay...!" Her arms still a waving, overwhelmed mess, and he caught her wrists before she could... he wasn't even sure. Punch him in the nose.

But as soon as he touched her, she threw his hold off of her. "Let go! _You don't touch me!_"

"I'm sorry...!" Remembering his hand at her throat made him back off, hands held up, passive.

Lilith briefly shook herself, her breath shuddering, "... And what the Hell are you _wearing?_"

His father had already asked him the same, as soon as he'd seen him on the steps. A sigh slipped from his tan lips, "I just returned from a quick errand of sorts. For Lord Lucifer. I haven't had the time to change."

"You have to dress differently for an _errand?_"

"It was local. He needed me to look like an average, young man. It inspires trust." The last sentence he said quietly, knowing Lilith would find the irony in it.

She did, and made it known with a scoff. "What the fuck does Lucifer do in England?"

Jinho's lips thinned. "He has his hands in all sorts of places." He left it at that, hearing her scoff, again. "Princess-"

"Fucking _save it_." Lilith's dark red eyes were moody, her champagne blonde strands a bit mussed from earlier sparring. "If this is about you threatening to _strangle_ me, I don't wanna hear it."

"I wasn't-" Jinho didn't like this, he didn't like the way she made him stumble and stammer. "I wouldn't have; I-"

"Why can't you accept that you weren't perfect for _once?_" The Evil snapped and sneered. "I pissed you off. It made you want to hurt me. I would have probably _let_ you!" Golden hands pushed against his chest, his jacket falling open. "... 'Fuck you, I'm from _Seoul'?_" She read the bold black letters, momentarily pulled from what she'd been hissing at him.

There was no excuse for the way Jinho couldn't keep up with what she said and all the different directions it took. His mouth opened uselessly, dark eyes apologetic, face feeling a bit hot. "It was a gift..."

But she'd already pushed past him, stepping into the dining room. His brain screamed and scrambled; this wasn't _like_ him... He reached out, fingers curling into her dark sweater. The unbuttoned fabric fell from her shoulders, but caught around her elbows as she fought him off, suddenly very intent on closing the distance to the table.

Jinho watched her staring at all the papers left carelessly strewn across the table. This was a nightmare. Give him a list of 'errands' and 'missions' and he could perform them flawlessly. But he couldn't do something as simple as put some accursed documents in a manila envelope before opening the doors?

Lilith held up the blown up picture of the treasonous Umar of the Queen's Guard. "Really?"

"Lil-"

"Uncanny fucking _resemblane,_ huh?" She hissed and ground the paper into his chest. "You're _unbelievable, _lecher! Did Lord Lucifer need to know about Gehenna's royal bastard?"

"Princess-"

"_Princess!"_ She hissed and tore back into the hall. "I shouldn't be surprised! If these tendencies didn't exist _before_ Lucifer, I'm sure he drilled them right into you! Why ask me about my life when you can just _sneak around_ and figure it out behind my back?"

"Would you have told me anything if I'd asked?"

"No, and I'm pretty sure that's my right, Princess or not! _Clearly_ the Elders didn't want you to know! You might be displeased, and they'd lose yet _another_ valuable, powerful suitor!"

A headache was beginning to pound heavily in the Gehenna Vampire's head. "Lilith, I really _do not_ care what the Elder Council is trying to do, here. I'm sorry that I-"

"Oh! Well that's a bad quality in a potential King! They won't like that!" Her pupils had thinned into cat-eyed slits. "Let me make something _very clear_ to you. The Elder Council _does not care_ that you don't care. They don't care if you _do_ care! They care about putting my bastard self with someone they can be proud of, who will fill me full of fucking _kids_ they can be proud of! And believe me, a Gehenna Vampire with intricate ties to Sheol and to Lord Lucifer would be a _fine_ catch, to them! They're just hoping you'll take their shitty, bastard bait!"

"Stop! Stop." Jinho's voice raised over hers, briefly sharp like the even cut of a cold knife, before settling back into something calm and even. "Listen to me. You cannot help what you were born into. None of us can." He paused, saw her mouth pucker into a sour pout. "This is not something that anyone can blame you for. If they have... then I'm sorry. That is a reflection on their character. Not your own."

Lilith's vision briefly blurred... she blinked it aside, gently inhaling to seal away every last tear. "Tell that to them. They won't listen; it doesn't matter to them. But you know what does matter? I'm the Dragonmaster and the last Princess of Gehenna, and you're a man of power and prestige." She shrugged the sweater back over her shoulders. "Have fun with your fucking findings, Jinho."

He deserved that... "You are more than what they make you feel you are, Lilith."

She held her arms out, and her smile was bitter. "And all the same, it's all I have." She smiled at his frown. She smiled at his sad black eyes. "Thank you, anyway..." She turned when his dark eyes widened just slightly in surprise, and began striding to the parlor that would lead her outside. "The shirt is dumb, but I like the hair." She mentally shook herself and called out over her shoulder, "Back to Michael...!"

Michael, again... Even as the Vampire told himself that he'd already done all he could to end that, for Nema's sake at least, he called after the Evil. His voice was drowned out in two others, worried, anxious, feet pounding down stairs...

"Did she say she was safe?"

"I don't know; the line went dead and she's not answering her cell phone!"

"Try again!" Golden hair bounced around Raphael's head as he hurried down two steps at a time, racing for the front door, his phone held to his ear. "Barbiel? Did you find Abel?"

"God, she has an infant, Raphael...!"

"Keep calling her! What about Rujiel, try him!"

"Nema?" Jinho, alarmed at their panic, yelled at as the Wind Angel and the Rabbit sped past him. "Nema, what's going on?"

Her snowy hair swirled around her head and she looked back at him and did a brief double-take. "You're wearing the shirt!"

Jinho had hoped that if Nema caught him wearing this shirt, it would have been under... less anxious circumstances. "Nema, what's happened? Nema...!"

She hadn't heard him, rushing after Raphael. Whatever had them panicked, it was so dire that the pair took flight in broad daylight, wings spread and carrying them away...

xXxXxXx

How had this become so horrible, so fast...?

The Wind Angel had received the dreaded phone call from his wife mere minutes before he'd left for Heaven, surprised that Nema ran at his heels, but too worried to care. In the end, he was grateful. His son was missing, and his call with Barbiel ended when someone had hit the phone right out of her hand. He heard scuffles and gun shots. Barbiel never got back on the line...

In the heat of all that madness, he hadn't thought to call any authorities, but Nema had, even calling Raziel directly. At the time, he'd hoped that was overkill on Nema's part.

Now they were in their own neighborhood. Residential... it should have been safe, or else only one or two homes looted and lit on fire...

The entire block was burning, and the fire only spread.

There was no guessing who did this. Black-clad Rabbits yelling Uprising slogans, yelling curses on every pale-feathered Angel, and every traitor to their cause... Far down the block, a group of five set to work holding up a long, giant scroll with the Rabbit Queen's visage printed upon it, setting it ablaze.

They cried for the Queen's long life, mocking and mean, and Raphael immediately stepped in front of Nema. "You can't be here." She didn't reply. He looked behind him to see that her eyes were wide in horror, a pale hand over her mouth. "Nema, you have to go."

"... Hey!" She cried out, screaming through the sound of fire and crackling wood and rioting. She briefly struggled past Raphael's arms, his protests falling on deaf, bewildered ears. She wrestled free of him and met five pairs of eyes red as her own, though hers were brimming and leaking tears. Horrified tears. Guilty tears. Angry tears. She slipped her earring from her ear, tossed it and caught it by the hilt once it had turned into her katana. The clear blade sliced through the air, a mock-cut through all of them and her own burning image as she held her arms open for them. "Do you want to try that with the real thing?"

"Nema...!" Raphael's breath caught short in his throat. He never missed her recklessness...

"Find your family... I'll try to find Nyssa's." Her dark wings unfurled from her back, and she took to the air.

Only three followed her, the other two running straight for the Holy Healer. He saw them reach through heavy coats, and didn't wait to see what they would pull on him. Raphael swiftly pulled the pistol from the holster at his hip and made quick work of them, only one bullet for each. As soon as both crumpled to the ground, he turned and gunned down the other three. They fell from the sky, reaching in vain for Nema, black wings limply catching in the wind.

He was bewildered, dismayed as Nema left and he went through the weapons the two men were carrying. He slipped a second gun into his holster and grabbed a butterfly knife, standing to view the chaos all over again. Everything was broken and lit up in fire... Raphael's heart sank. Wind would not help, now. All he could do was run, and search, and hope he would find his family...

Time slowed when he passed his house... Fire and rubble. God, what had they done to his home? His feet skidded across pavement. His heart reached the bottom of his torso. It wasn't his home, anymore. It couldn't be. No one could live there.

A dull, broken moaning shook the Wind Angel from his nightmare, and he turned and hurried to the sound. He slipped into the thin alley and dropped to his knees beside the body he found... He recognized the man, but only distantly. Someone from around the neighborhood. A Rabbit man who he remembered seeing often with a White Wing woman... He lay on the dirty street with his head beaten so badly it was swollen. The word 'traitor' had been deeply carved into his chest... so deeply, too deeply.

Raphael rested his hands just below the bleeding word, and the man began to twitch. Move. Protest. "Let me..."

"I can help you." He countered, feeling the man's chest shudder under his touch.

The man was shaking his head. "They took her... Let me..."

Something about his words sent a tremor of anger through the Healer. "You can get her back! But you need to get on your feet, first!"

The swollen head knocked itself against the pavement. "It's over... Let me..."

The man kept begging as the life slipped from him, and Raphael's golden brows furrowed in frustration. He opened his mouth to try and reason with him once more, and caught the shadow beginning to loom over him just in time to quickly grab the pistol he'd laid on the ground. He spun toward a group of sneering Rabbit men... "Stay back."

"Fucking Holy Healer...!" The man in front snarled, reached back, and Raphael took no chances, shooting him twice in the chest.

"I said _stay back._ I won't tell you again." His voice was even, icy-cold and serious.

His words were an invitation in their minds, and the group closed in on him. Raphael fired several more shots while reaching for the second gun he'd stolen earlier, only to find that a hand had already reached it. But the man's grip was weak, and the Wind Angel turned and mercilessly shot him, sending a bullet straight through the center of his skull.

That moment left Raphael's back exposed, and the remnants of the group descended, all fists and swearing and raw rage... What else could he do but try to wrestle free, to shoot wildly? His first gun clicked empty, and he beat a man across the face with the butt of it before he was forced to his knees, both guns wrestled from his hands.

"Traitor's still fucking breathing!" One spoke.

"So shoot him, then!" Another, restraining Raphael, hissed back.

The Wind Angel began to struggle desperately, hearing the seams on the sleeves of his shirt tear. "No! Leave him alone! _Leave him alone!_" A cry tore from his throat as the gun went off, giving the wounded Rabbit his wish. _"He's one of you...!"_

"That piece of shit isn't one of us! Everyone in league with White Wing scum like you is a tainted Rabbit!" His restrainer snapped, sending a rowdy cheer through the remaining few sneering men.

Raphael fell into a despairing whirlwind of frenzy. Finally his arms broke free, and he smashed his elbow hard into the gut of his restrainer, knocking the breath from him. The man he'd pistol whipped came at him with the empty gun, ready to deliver karma. The Healer rose from his knees and crashed against him, immediately fighting for the weapon, and when he saw the second gun aim for him, he swung the black-clad, bone-pale body in front of himself. It bought him just enough time to pull out the butterfly knife, flip it open, and firmly dig it into his shield's soft belly, dragging an ugly, jagged line through it. He watched the life drain from him with ice-blue eyes and a hard, chilly face.

"Sh... _Shit!_" The man who'd been restraining Raphael was still gasping for breath, but he lunged at the Wind Angel, regardless. Raphael pulled the knife from the dead shield he still held and slashed at the man, catching on black fabric. The body was wrenched from his grasp, and every remaining man descended on him, hoping to overwhelm him.

It worked. Raphael stabbed through two men, but ultimately was knocked onto his face, his cheek scraping against the ground. He felt the barrel of the loaded gun at the back of his head. "Try that again, you fucking White Wing bitch!"

"Go ahead." Raphael's grip on the blood-smeared butterfly knife was firm and ready, even as a foot pressed down against his wrist, even with a bullet so near his brain. "Kill an Elemental. Let's see what happens."

If these men of the Uprising were that reckless, he wouldn't find out. Gunshots rang out, and something swooped down. Some black-winged blur... The bodies of his attackers began dropping around him, and Raphael wrestled his knife-wielding arm free. He slashed at an ankle, scrambled to a stand, and found himself staring down the barrel of that gun...

A single gunshot.

The armed man fell, coughing up blood, and Raphael's savior stomped forward. A wild, hurt yell clawing out of his pale throat as he shot and shot and shot, until the gun clicked, useless. With the back of his hand, he wiped off the thin trail of blood leaking from his white bottom lip, and then he tossed a stray group of unusual black strands out of his garnet eyes.

Rujiel nodded to the man with 'traitor' carved into his chest. "Is he?"

Raphael shook his head, messy golden locks swaying. "He's gone..." He shut his eyes, hands shaking. "He's fucking _dead!_" He kicked a dead body, stooping down to retrieve his gun before death could trap it in the man's pale hand. He wasn't sure how much ammunition was left...

He looked up to see Rujiel shaking his head, passing an ivory hand across the sweat on his brow. "Why the _fuck_ is this happening?"

"I don't know; I have no idea what the Uprising is trying to accomplish, anymore." The Wind Angel replied, slipping his gun back into the holster. "Have you seen Barbiel? Abel?"

The question shook Rujiel, and it showed in his quivering frown, but he answered plainly, "She'd called to ask us to keep an eye out for Abel. They left the house, but Abel got separated in a skirmish... She thinks he might be trying to hide until this blows over..."

"... Your family?" The question came out quiet and cautious from the Healer's lips.

Tears sprung up fresh in his garnet eyes. "I don't know. They... They lit the whole place on fire; Nyssa took Lilliel and left and I barely got out. They were already gone. I have no idea." He took a violently shaky breath, and couldn't help yelling out all over again, "Why the fuck is this _happening?_"

The question didn't have an answer, and all Raphael could to was look up at the sky and hope...

xXxXxXx

Nema wished she knew where to look... Raphael's home was ruined, and in passing she'd seen Rujiel's up in flames. Her heart broke into pieces, and she expected her own house to be the same... but it was fine. Maybe they just hadn't gotten to it yet. She wasn't sure.

Her high-heeled boots touched the pavement as she landed, her large, dark wings shaking out the anxiety and the adrenaline. She hurried... somewhere. She wasn't even sure where. Where could she begin looking for someone, anyone...?

She had reentered the riot-torn area, wanting to scream out and sob at the wreckage, when she finally heard the sounds of people. They were not good sounds. They were malicious, cruel laughs, things about 'traitor's babies.' Nema took to the air, again, and when she found the source, the mother in her let out a horrified cry. An infant, dangling by one tiny, chubby ankle.

Instinct took over. Wings beat against the wind. The baby fell. An anguished scream rumbled her throat until it was raw...

She managed to catch the child, her pale arm hooking around it, pulling it against her thudding heartbeat. She looked down at the sobbing baby, eyes shut and face red in all its wails, but the hair... white with the bit of black on top, looking more like a stripe because of its shortness.

Lilliel. She'd hoped to see Lilliel for the first time under very different circumstances...

No sooner than she'd saved the child, Nema and Lilliel were under pursuit, a group of angry Uprising members chasing her through the air. Nema kept going, her ruby eyes scanning for somewhere safe, anywhere safe. A sour part of her asked herself if safe places even existed, anymore...

Anger burst anew inside of her, and she tucked her dark wings against her body, dropping from the sky just enough to find herself below the group. She could no longer keep herself held in check... Her wings spread wide again, pushing herself up into the heart of the group with Lilliel tightly tucked against her body, her Angel Crystal katana poised and ready.

She speared one. Ran one right through the middle with her indestructible katana, causing the group to scatter. Ruby eyes glared at the wounded rebel as the life slowly left him. She didn't need to tell him anything. Her eyes said it all.

There would be a holy terror for this.

She heard the flap of wings from behind her and turned in mid-air, catching the Uprising woman through her stomach, just like the man who still hung from her blade. Nema planted her high-heeled boot on them and pushed them off her sword, watching the bodies plummet to the ground as she landed on the roof of a looted market.

"That was a warning...!" Nema called out, gently bouncing the sobbing infant in her arm. She knew she couldn't hope for the child to be calm in the arm of a stranger, soaring through the sky, surrounded by violence. "Come anywhere near this child again and I will spear you just like I speared them!"

"Look!" One of them sneered. "She thinks that she can fight with a baby tucked in her arm!"

Nema's eyes were red fire, but her mouth was a cold, taut white line. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just did."

"You're not all-powerful, anymore, Your Majesty...!" Others jeered while this member of the Uprising, a woman, continued mocking her. "Azrael made sure that every last one of us knew! You're just a woman with a sword, now!"

"Yes, where is your piece of shit leader?" A flick of her wrist sent drops of blood spattering on across the roof, falling from her blade. "I'd like to drag my sword across his throat. With a baby in my arm."

The threat sent a tremor and a hiss through the group. "It doesn't matter where he is... He doesn't need to be the one to take you out." Nema saw dark-winged forms in the distance, closing in fast. "We can do it, now. You can cut some of us down – with that traitor's baby in your arm – but we can keep coming." They saw one foot slide back one step. "And you will get tired, protecting that little maggot who will grow up a spoiled wretch, and we'll still keep coming." The woman's voice dropped. "And we will tear you apart...!"

Nema heard the fluttering of even more wings from behind her. "I won't let them get you..." She gently murmured to Lilliel as she continued to cry, and she turned, her katana making a wide arc in the air.

The threat bought Nema enough time to take to the air again, keeping Lilliel tight against her, but the chase was overwhelming. Briefly, the longing to blow them apart ran through her... It was hard to extend sympathy to people who would riot through the homes of innocents, who would toss a child off of a building.

But that power had been stripped from her, and all she could do was dive into a labyrinth of burning houses and small alleys, running. Her wings were tired, aching. Her feet were sore in her boots, but she kept pushing forward, slashing a man wide open with her katana when she found herself blocked off.

Two more, and then three more showed up in that man's place. More were still closing in behind her. Lilliel still screamed and sobbed...

Nema's dark wings screamed at her as they spread, lifting her into the air again. She cried out when they tore fistfuls of black feathers out, and she grit her teeth, pushed through the pain.

"You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay..." became a mantra. Mostly for Lilliel, but over time, for herself, too. They had to be okay. She had to get Lilliel to safety. She needed to find her parents.

God, Nema hoped they were okay... that they were alive. She couldn't for the life of her imagine Nyssa or Rujiel losing their daughter easily. What had happened to them? The fear gripped her tight as Uprising members rose above, casting a thick and unwelcome shadow over her.

She dropped the mantra and replaced it with a wild, angry cry, slashing every which way with her bloodied, Angel Crystal sword. She cut out her path and flew through blood and flesh, and though it was futile, she tried to pop them all open. She tried like she'd been trying with shards of glass, but the will to live made her more desperate than ever before. The tension of the usual headache began already. Hands pulled on her feathers, her dress, her hair, tearing at her. She didn't care. The only part of her that mattered was the arm tucked firm against her bosom, and the poor infant held there...

Her right wing had begun to cramp up, and made her flight path crooked. Desperation led her to the first building she saw that wasn't burning. A nondescript, local office building she remembered passing by a few times in the past... "Hang on, sweetie..." She cooed to the child, her voice cracking on desperation and tears, dropping her head down over her, her sword-wielding arm held out like a second shield as she crashed through a window.

It was not a graceful landing. Pain and dizziness made her stumble and slide on her knees, right into a cubicle of sorts, smashing against a chair. Her aching wings had wrapped around her like a shell, but that didn't keep the bits of glass from embedding themselves into her knees, into her arm. Her vision was dark, blurred, and irritated, but Nema blinked through it to look down at the sobbing baby. Lilliel's face was bright red in all her fear and crying, but otherwise, she was fine... and despite everything, despite the way Nema's body felt like it had been worn ragged, she went back to gently bouncing her, coddling her. "You're gonna be okay..." Her face grew sober when the unmistakable red dots of blood dripped onto the soft, animal-print clothes that Lilliel wore, falling from Nema's face. "... You're gonna be okay." She repeated as she began to scramble deeper into the building. She passed a mirror that had dropped from the side of the cubicle when she'd hit it and quickly peered at herself to see where the blood was coming from, blinking aside dark blurriness again. Her eyes. She was bleeding from her eyes... But she hadn't gotten any glass in them, had she?

A thin dribble of blood began to drip out of her left nostril, and she hurried along. Something else was going on with her... "You're gonna be okay..."

"Just like I said, Queen." That same woman had slipped in through the broken window. Nema heard several more people break in through the others. "You will get tired, and we will tear you apart...!"

Nema may have been a crumpled mess on the floor, but she raised her sword, dropped her aching, dark wings over herself to form just one more shield around the poor, sobbing child.

When the sound of gunshots came, Nema was momentarily hopeless, her wings wrapping into a tighter cocoon, just hoping her own body would be enough of a shield to save Lilliel... But the gunshots kept coming, and Nema was safe.

She peeked from between the slowly parting wings to see the familiar, long-legged body of Barbiel, a pistol in each hand. Her cerulean eyes were sharp and her glossy lips had turned up into a ghost of a smile, her strawberry blonde hair mussed from fighting. When the nurse caught Nema beginning to rise, she called out, "Stay down, Nema!" Her voice was kind, even as she stomped on a man... the thin, white stiletto heel sinking through his eye socket.

Nema watched through wide, bleeding eyes as Barbiel prepared to shoot that last two people, but one gun clicked empty. Barbiel smiled along with that mouthy woman and dropped her useless gun... only to give a flip of her wrist before punching the base of the woman's neck. A thin, sharp, needle-like blade extended from Barbiel's treasured military ring and through the woman's throat.

With a small grunt, Barbiel dislodged her blood-smeared shoe from the dead man's skull and kicked the woman off of the blade of her ring, leaving her there to gasp and choke on blood. "... Oh God, that's Lilliel!" She grabbed both guns and slipped them into holsters on her thighs.

Nema nodded through a groan as she finally stood, her whole body protesting.

"The poor thing..." Barbiel's voice was a sad coo as she reached out, "Here, give her to me." As soon as the child was in her arms, she carefully rocked her, gently murmuring, "Hey, Lil... Hey, Lil... You're all right, now..." She noticed the blood dripping off the extended blade of her ring, beginning to run down onto her hand, and she retracted the blade with a quick flip of her wrist.

Being near someone familiar helped Lilliel just that much more, dropping her wails into a quieter moaning kind of cry. Nema sighed deeply, her body crumpling against the cubicle wall. "We need to get out of here."

"We need to get you looked at." Barbiel's tone changed, becoming clinical and just a bit forceful. She saw Nema open her mouth to protest. "No. There's bound to be a nurse's office in here, somewhere."

"There isn't time..."

"There is if I say so." Barbiel replied, both firm and calm, watching Nema pinch at her nose. "Tilt your head back." Barbiel shifted Lilliel onto one arm, wrapping the other around Nema, under her pale arms. "How badly have your eyes been damaged? Can you still see out of them?"

"Yeah," Nema blinked and felt the dried blood near her tear ducts crack. At least her eyes had stopped bleeding... "My eyes feel fine. I don't know what's going on..."

"We'll figure it out." Barbiel reassured her, guiding her down one floor. "Where is Nyssa? Rujiel?"

"I have no clue. All I know is that they tossed Lilliel off the roof of a building."

The nurse's mouth pressed into a firm line as she hurried toward a door with 'NURSE' plainly painted onto it. "There might be others, then..."

Nema couldn't even begin to stomach that idea, her aching body stepping into the room and sitting on one of a pair of padded chairs. With nowhere good to put Lilliel, Barbiel handed the child back to Nema and turned to a cabinet. "If someone comes in-" Barbiel rested the still-loaded gun beside Nema's torn up skirt.

"Shoot." She said simply.

Barbiel was nothing if not quick and efficient in her work... Raphael had always favored her for a good reason. As she wiped the blood from Nema's face and began delicately plucking every shard of glass out of her ivory skin, she murmured quietly, "So you have finally met Lilliel."

"That's... one way of putting it." She sighed, finally seeing Lilliel's bright green eyes now that the child had grown calm. "I hope her parents are okay... It's just... I can't imagine many things pulling parents away from their infant..."

"A riot would do it..." Barbiel commented softly... sadly, reaching for little pads of rubbing alcohol. "Last I'd heard, Raphael was heading here, too. Did he get here?"

Nema nodded, her eyes trained to the little pile of tiny, bloody shards of glass. "He did. He's looking for you... and for Abel."

Not many things shook an Angel like Barbiel... but this thing. The very mention of the name made her pause for half a second. "... God, I hope he finds him." She began placing bandages over every scrape and puncture wound Nema had received, her fingers steady, but her voice quaking. "That reckless boy...!" She stopped for the moment, cerulean eyes lining with a mother's tears. "I know he was... so scared, but-"

The door swung open with a loud crack against the wall, and pistols were raised, Barbiel grabbing for hers and aiming without missing a beat.

No sooner than he'd aimed his gun, Rujiel raised it, the other hand open and passive. "Fuck, it's good to see you tw-" He voice cracked when he saw the bundle in Nema's arm, who'd begun to cry all over again from the commotion. There was no need to say anything. Nema offered Rujiel's daughter to him, and he immediately slipped his gun back into the waistband of his pants to take Lilliel into his arms and cradle her. "I thought you were dead...!" He pressed kisses to Lilliel's brow and gently shushed her, not bothering to hold back his tears.

The fact that he couldn't hold his tears did nothing for Barbiel's, and Nema tried to push the group along. "Is Raphael with you?"

"He's out front, making sure no one enters." Rujiel sniffed back his tears and motioned with a jerk of his head.

"Hang on," Barbiel's voice was uncharacteristically tight, "I need to finish dressing these wounds..." She grabbed another bandage.

"The wounds are fine..." Nema insisted. "Raphael's right outside; he can take care of them." She grabbed the Barbiel's hand and pulled the bandage out of it. "And then we can all look for Abel together. Okay?"

Barbiel took a quiet breath before being able to nod, and she looked up at Rujiel to ask, "Nyssa...?"

Rujiel frowned and gently bounced Lilliel in his arms, shaking his head. "She had Lilliel when all this started... I'd hoped she would be with her."

Yelling managed to slip its way to their ears, though they couldn't make sense of it... "Raphael." Barbiel was back on her white stilettos, one with a bloodstained heel, hurrying back out of the building.

"We should follow." Nema stood and grabbed her sword, walking in front of Rujiel with poised and ready to strike.

"... Did you get a chance to check your house, yet?" Rujiel asked as they rushed after the nurse.

"It seemed fine, but that was a while ago... I saw yours." Nema wasn't sure how to voice her apologies for the way house has been reduced to fire and rubble...

She heard him sigh from behind her. "That's how it looked about 15 minutes ago..."

The Rabbit Queen glanced over her shoulder at him. "What...?" She would have figured that by now it would be utterly demolished.

"It's still up. It looks... fine. Like they meant to ruin everything around it, but not the house itself." The message settled uneasily in the air, and Nema couldn't think of a single reply. Rujiel mumbled uncomfortably, "Though we haven't checked the inside."

Nema laughed bitterly. "I'm not sure if that's supposed to make me feel better or not, Ruji..."

She could hear the caution in his voice when he tried a dark joke. "It might be rigged. Full of bombs."

"Oh, the Uprising would like that too much. Blow up the woman who used to blow things up." Nema tried to laugh again, but just... couldn't. "No, that's too clever for them. Let's not give them that kind of credit."

The tense conversation ended as they saw Barbiel run out of the glass doors, toward an elaborate water fountain.

There was Nyssa... bent over the flowing, rippling water... holding two men underwater, screaming and crying.

The telltale, warning flash of light around Nyssa's hands set off alarms in all their heads. "Raphael!" Nema yelled at the Wind Angel, who immediately reached out and grabbed his wife, pulling her away from the wet concrete.

The distressed Aion let out a scream, a wild, raging cry from the core of her chest as the lightning spread from her wrists and through the chilly water. The fountain glowed too brightly to see, though for a second the bodies had gone rigid as Nyssa fried them to death, smoke rising, carrying the horrible stench of charred flesh.

It took Rujiel to pull Nyssa back from the anguish of a despairing mother, yelling out her name, calling out, "We found her! We found Lilliel!"

As soon as the name sunk into her, the lightning stopped, the water settled, and Nyssa backed away from the blackened bodies in the fountain. Her body still shook from adrenaline, but she ran forward on dark gray, strappy boots, pale hands held out to take her crying daughter. The three seemed to crumple together in a pile of relief and tears, a family torn apart and clawing their way back to each other.

Nema watched them. She watched them collectively cry and comfort each other. She watched Raphael wrap his arms around Barbiel, hiding frowns, incomplete.

The loud and steady whirring of law enforcement airships and medical teams finally reached them, wind rifling through their hair. Nema was the only one who looked up at them, tired, frowning.

xXxXxXx

"The bomb squad just sent me the word. Your house is fine." Raziel had assumed that the news would have pleased Nema to some extent...

The woman only shrugged. "Then they left it untouched on purpose."

The Prime Minister bit at the inside of his cheeks. "... I think they were trying to send a message, yes."

"So a whole neighborhood of people are homeless, or out of work, or dead. To send a message about me, to me."

"Nema, this is not your fault." Raziel couldn't help the roughness that had entered his voice. He needed her to believe him... "Okay? Are you listening to me?"

"Well then who's fault isit, Raziel?" Nema snapped, an angry shiver running through her.

"_Theirs!"_ Raziel frowned, his golden brows furrowed in frustration. But she only left him, pale hands running through pale hair. He bit back a hundred not-so-politically-correct words, and instead called out, "You have in_ no way_ prompted this, Nema!"

The words reached Nema, but didn't sink in. A million other sentiments chased themselves around in her head, as she silently strode over to Rujiel, Nyssa, Lilliel. They stood at the edge of the yard leading to the sad, blackened remains of their house...

Nema couldn't push any messages out of her mouth until Nyssa finally spoke, cradling her daughter as she finally slept. "We had just finished renovations..."

"I'm sorry." The apology burst from the Queen of Rabbits. "I am so sorry, Nyssa..."

"... It isn't your fault." It was Rujiel who spoke, Nyssa momentarily fighting back tears.

Nema had heard that enough times, already... It didn't help. "Raziel just got word that my house is clear. I... I know that it isn't exactly... in a safe location, given circumstances. But... as soon as it is. However long that takes... If you don't mind it, you're welcome to stay there." She looked up to find a pair of emerald eyes and a pair of garnet eyes fixed on her. "Barbiel has the same offer. Raphael is still stuck in England with me, so he might try to-"

"Thank you." Nyssa cut her off.

Nema's smile was weak and painful. "It's the least I can-"

"For saving Lilliel." Nyssa voice quivered around the name. "And for the offer. We'll consider it..." They were both teary eyes and unhappy frowns, and Nyssa tried to break it with a crooked, wry smirk. "I know fighting with a baby tucked in your arm is pretty much a fucking nightmare."

Nema's laugh felt dry and scratchy in her throat. "Yeah... But it was worth it."

"Holy sh..." Rujiel's voice trailed off as the voices of men began calling out, exiting the ruined home. "Raphael! _Raphael, get over here!_"

The Holy Healer didn't need to be told again, his attention pulled away from Raziel and toward the house. "... Abel!" They cry was shared between Abel's parents as they saw the boy being escorted across the yard by the group of men. The men backed away as Raphael and Barbiel both dropped to their knees at the edge of the ruined yard, hands reached for the disheveled boy. He was filthy, covered in soot. His clothes burned into crisp, stinking, warped fibers...

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you burnt?" The father in Raphael made the questions come out mile a minute. Abel's clothes were a wreck, utterly roasted. He should have been very badly burnt...

But the boy's skin, though gray with soot, was without a single flaw. His bi-colored eyes were wide and unblinking, his voice shaky and scared. "I think I'm okay..."

"You're okay?" Barbiel gently smoothed back her son's chin-length hair.

"I'm okay..."

"Abel, look at me." Raphael's hands cupped his face, fear making each word tight with worry. "When your mother tells you to follow, you follow. Understand?"

"They were all over..." Abel's voice hitched, and Raphael's thumb brushed at a tear that had leaked from his left, ice-blue eye. "I got scared...!"

"I know, I know you did." The momentary scolding ended, and Raphael pulled Abel into a tight embrace. "You're sure you're okay? You're not hurt anywhere?"

"I'm okay. I don't know why..."

Raphael pulled away to share a thoughtful, questioning, suspicious glance with his wife... but he ultimately dismissed it, for now, hugging Abel again. It was a miracle in itself that his son was alive...

Nema tried to be happy. It wouldn't have been right to say that she wasn't grateful that Abel was alive, though clearly shaken. Raphael and Barbiel had found their son, still had their son. Nathan still had his closest friend...

But none of the people she stood next to had homes, and had all very nearly died. Try as she might to believe what others said... that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't prompt this...

Nema knew that everything that transpired today still circled back to her.


End file.
